


Red Wine, Mistakes, Mythology

by SophisticatedMatreats



Category: Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Marvel Cinematic Universe Fusion, Asgard (Marvel), Asgardian Culture (Marvel), Both Loki and Eris are idiots, Canon Divergence - Avengers (2012), Canon Divergence - Post-Thor: The Dark World, Canon Divergence - Thor: The Dark World, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eris has magic, F/M, Fix-It, Hades is a Good Parent, It Gets Better, Jotunn Loki (Marvel), Loki (Marvel) Has Issues, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Loki (Marvel) deserves a nap, Loki (Marvel) is stressed, Loki (Marvel) is trying his best, Marvel Universe, Not Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase Two Compliant, Odin (Marvel)'s A+ Parenting, Odin and Zeus were buddies, Odin is a horrible father, POV Eris (Marvel), POV Loki (Marvel), Persephone is a blessing, Prophecy shenanigans, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Romance, Straight outta Asgard, Things happen for plot convenience, Until they weren't, We just want our dumb son to have happiness, Yggdrasil is sentient, Zeus is a horrible father, eventually, it'll be explained later, it's chaos, slow start
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:02:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 26,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28052874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophisticatedMatreats/pseuds/SophisticatedMatreats
Summary: Greek pantheon meets the Norse pantheon in a chaotic mishmash mess of problems.We decided that Infinity War and Endgame never existed because we didn't want them to. This story started off as a role play, with each author being in charge of one character’s development and writing from that character’s POV. We chose not to condense the POVs into one big narrator because, well, it’s a lot cooler when you get to see a situation from each character’s POV. And because we’re lazy and that’s a ton of work. Enjoy!
Relationships: Eris (Marvel)/Loki (Marvel), Eris | Discordia (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore)/Loki (Marvel)
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

**Eris**

Thor was an idiot. Sure, he was absolutely fantastic to look at, as was the one who's butt seemed to fit just perfectly into his red, white, and blue uniform. Maybe she had a thing for blondes. But to call upon Eris to assist in defeating his brother and to go as far as _trusting her_. Now that was a mistake and if Thor had taken the time to even speak to one Greek, he would know not trust anything that came out of her mouth. She had sat at their table, drank their wine because _us gods love our wine_. She did love wine – it was one of her favorite things, closely following things such as war, chaos, getting her vindictive revenge on those who wronged her. You know, things most women just couldn’t keep their hands off of.  
  
She was like Loki, according to Thor, and they needed a Loki on their side to take down the real one. Of course, Eris knew who Loki was, although she wasn’t sure she would be able to pick him out from a crowd if asked to do so. The others were hesitant to trust her, but she was good at faking. She could have a beautiful, sweet smile if she tried and an innocent, yet determined look in her eye. A little emotional manipulation helped too as well as Thor to tell her war stories. She avoided the question of why she was no longer living on Mt. Olympus.  
  
They had given her the rundown. Loki had escaped their grasp and now it was just time to wait. Wait for whatever he was planning to pan out. They weren’t entirely sure, although Thor was able to give a guess. They would fight him the best they could and Eris gave them her promise she would try her best to get the tesseract from him. From that meeting on, everything was quiet. Until now.  
  
The floor shook with a boom and, at that moment, Eris knew her own plan would be set into motion.

**Loki**

Well, it seems that was it then.  
  
Loki watched as the red-haired woman raise the staff from his spot on the shattered glass-ridden balcony as she disrupted the Tesseract's flow of energy. Even if he could get to it now, it was already too late. He had tried to stop her just minutes earlier when she came to fetch the scepter, but he had hardly managed to make it outside before she was there. It didn't take much to knock Loki aside, and before he could even react she had taken it and gone back up to the roof, leaving him on the ground.  
  
The electrical currents of the machine that housed the Tesseract crackled with excess energy, spitting off tiny shoots of lightning in reaction to the interference. The dark clouds above broiled, and with an eerily unfitting silence, the portal began to shrink until all remnants of it had vanished into the blue atmosphere, carrying with it any last bit of remaining hope that he might have held onto until now.  
  
Gritting his teeth, Loki and dragged himself up into a sitting position. Stray rocks and other debris jostled loose from his hair and clothes and he reached up with a hand and touched the side of his face where she had nicked him with the scepter's blade. She and Doctor Selvig were coming down, having left the deactivated machine behind. Loki's ears were still ringing, though he could pick up bits of what the woman was saying to the rest of their group through her receiver as the two got closer.  
  
"...Stark?...Good..."  
  
Loki's eyes fixed on the scepter— no, _his_ scepter, that she was currently holding and the glowing cube that Selvig had in his hands. It looked as if she was wrapping up, and he knew that there wasn't much time until the rest of his brother's 'friends' would be here to join her. When that happened he would have nowhere to go. He had to do something, and quick.  
  
"Yeah. He's still up here, though I doubt he's going anywhere anytime soon." Selvig trailed behind her as she approached Loki, her hand still tightly holding the gilded weapon. He was lucky she didn't know how to actually use it properly, else he might have already been dead. "Don't worry about me, just make sure Stark is okay."  
  
They were close enough for him to sense the Tesseract's energy. Calling on whatever willpower he had left, Loki drew on his last reserves of magic.  
  
"Just don't take forever. I'll be fine."  
  
"Are you sure about that?"  
  
Already on edge, the woman jumped and whipped around, shouting as she sliced through the already-fading illusion of Loki that was standing right behind her. Loki took the few seconds of opportunity to lunge towards Selvig who was also distracted and knock the Tesseract out of the doctor's hands and into his own. It didn't take long for her to realize what had happened.  
  
"Guys, we—"  
  
She was cut off as the Tesseract disappeared, taking Loki with it. The prince hadn't had time to think of a destination and in return, he was deposited in the middle of an abandoned street somewhere in the city. He almost lost his footing because of the gravel, though he managed to stay upright. Besides the destroyed vehicles, cracked asphalt, and dusty sky, there was nothing else he could see that gave away a more specific location. Though, honestly, that wasn't much of a surprise; it's not like he knew the layout of the city, especially not from down on the ground.  
  
He couldn't stay here, not out in the open. He needed to find a place to lay low until he could figure out how in Hel he was going to fix this. Going back was not an option, not after he had failed so miserably. The Black Order had never been merciful and they certainly would not start after word reached them about New York. He wouldn't have been surprised if they were already tracking him down.  
  
Loki made the mistake of looking up which immediately sent his sight spinning. Tesseract in hand, he stumbled through the rubble, narrowly avoiding tripping over his own feet as he went. Fortune was on his side; there was nobody within sight that he could see, and so he was able to get into a narrow street without opposition. It didn't take long to find a place he could use for temporary shelter. The entire city had taken heavy damage and Loki doubted that they'd be able to find him soon among all the wreckage, certainly not with how many people had surely been buried. For now, at least, he was safe.  
  
A resounding _boom_ came from somewhere in the distance, just close enough for him to feel the slightest of tremors in the ground.  
  
Ah. He had almost forgotten about that. Loki had had Selvig install a sort of self-destruct device if the machine was ever shut down. Looks like it had gone off; hopefully, it had taken Thor and the other Avengers with it.

**Eris**

The explosion had been close by, but not close enough to do them too much harm, thankfully. The Avengers leaped into action, grabbing shields and suits alike. Eris acted just as frantic, as if she had anything to grab. Of course, she stored her traditional Greek armor and sword magically. They had leaped into action without minding anything Eris was doing - which was standing in the middle of the room in her leggings and black sweater. Thor stopped, though, and eyed her in a teasing manner.  
  
"You should know how to react to a war! This is a war!"  
  
Eris turned somewhat cold eyes and spoke calmly. "How I handle myself in war is none, and will never be, any of your concern." When he paused, she moved. "I will find Loki. I have an idea of where he might be hiding." He spoke confidently and Thor, with some rush from Cap, gave her a nod. She watched them move out into the damaged city.  
  
Of course, Eris had no idea where Loki was. With the Tesseract, he could be anywhere. But she would make it her mission to ignore the dying and _find him_. It was her mission to rip the tesseract from his hands and put her sword through his chest. She followed them out onto the street, but headed in the opposite direction, ignoring the chaos and ducking into an ally. Chaos was who she was, what she was the goddess of. It hardly scared her.  
  
Now. If she were housing the Tesseract in a city she didn't know where would she be? That was quite the question to answer. If Thor was correct and they truly did think in the same ways, she hoped that fortune would be on her side and that fact would lead her to her target. As far as anyone but the Avengers knew, the Goddess of Chaos was not there, and that was already on her side.

**Loki**

It hadn't been long before Loki realized that he needed to move. Those who were doing sweeps of the streets in search of survivors were covering a lot more ground than he thought they would; in just a few hours he could hear voices and the sound of rubble and scraps being overturned. He had been holding the Tesseract which he had been staring at for quite some time. He had always found it entrancing to look at, though never had he the opportunity to do so for so long. In some ways, it felt alive, slow swirls of sparkling particles drifting just under the surface as if an entire galaxy was housed inside.

It took an immense amount of willpower to tear his eyes away from the Tesseract, but the sounds of the people were getting closer, dragging Loki back to reality. Luckily, thanks to his heritage, he healed quicker than most and was able to stand without much trouble, but gods above, that green brute had done a number on him. Thinking about it just made him angry, but he didn't have the time to dwell on that.

Holding the Tesseract in front of him, Loki attempted to activate it, meaning to place himself somewhere out of reach for the time being, but nothing happened. Blinking confusedly, he tried again, only to get the same result.

"What in _Hel's name—"_ Again, he willed the cube to work, but it just _wouldn't._ No matter what he did, where he imagined, it just straight up refused to cooperate. Nothing. "Damn it!" He had never had problems with using it before, so what was going on now?

"Over here! I think someone's down here!"

Loki whipped his head around just in time to see one of the human police officers turn into his street. Both men locked eyes for a few seconds before the officer realized who he was looking at. He blinked a few times, looking Loki up and down, clearly taken aback by the extravagant clothing and armor the prince was wearing. It didn't last long though. "Guys," he started, not taking his eyes off of Loki as he spoke into his receiver, "I think I just found that alien crackhead you've been lookin' for—" Loki didn't wait for any further incentive and immediately took off in the other direction, ignoring the shouts behind him. Of course, he wasn't worried about the mortal, he was worried about who was on the other end of that message. They would all know where he was within minutes.

Skidding around the corner, Loki exited the alleyway, eyes darting around for any place he could take refuge while he figured out what the hell was happening. There was nothing in his immediate vicinity that he could see, and if being out in the open wasn't already a problem, the man who had found him had already gathered his friends. "He's here! East Harlem, Park; we're in pursuit!" Loki turned down another street and disappeared in between buildings, hoping to buy himself just a little more time. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

"Found you." The crash of metal hitting cement signaled the arrival of someone Loki didn't particularly have a fondness for. He immediately turned around to find one of Stark's hands inches from his face and the sound of the repulsor charging up. Loki froze, wanting to look for any of the others that might have arrived, but not willing to take his eyes off of the annoyance directly in front of him. "You know, you've caused a lot of problems for us recently-"

Bah, he was infuriating. Loki didn't have time for Stark's poor attempt at stalling, but this time he didn't have the scepter with him. Thinking quickly, he created an illusion of himself in the exact spot where he stood and stepped off to the side, having seemingly split into two. Without any other thought, he made a run for it, his clone following on the opposite side as he dodged around Stark and back into the ruined street. A blast was fired off behind him, just barely missing where he had stepped a moment before.

"You sure we have to bring him back alive? It would be a lot easier if we did this my way." The rushed illusion had faded quickly and Stark was back in the air. "Fine, whatever. I guess we can do it your way." Loki didn't slow to hear anymore. The only thing he could see that could possibly be helpful was a tunnel off to his right where the road dipped and led underground into some sort of man-made cave that seemed to have vehicles parked inside. Stark fired another blast, hitting a chunk of a broken building next to Loki and scattering shards of rock everywhere.

Cave it was.

Stark continued to fire as Loki descended, but he managed to avoid them; at least, for the most part. One of the blasts struck the supporting pillar near the entrance, taking out the last tiny bit of integrity the structure still had. The sound of the ceiling collapsing was deafening, and though Loki managed to avoid most of it, the force still knocked him to the ground. The Tesseract dropped from his hand, and for a horrifying moment, he thought he had lost it before he found it and pulled it back towards him. When the dust cleared, he could see that the entrance was now completely blocked.

"Nah, I got it." Loki could barely hear Stark through the rubble. "Just give me a sec, it'll be fine." The ground shook as he attempted to blast his way through, sending dust down from the ceiling and weakening the other few supports that were still standing.

"Stark, stop! You're going to bring the entire building down on top of him!" Loki couldn't help but give a frustrated sigh at the familiar voice.

"You know I've been thinking, would that be so bad?"

"It's _not_ happening. Move." A bit of shuffling from outside. "Nobody move or attack anything; this structure will not withstand much more."

"Fine, I'll find another way in."

"No. He'll put up a fight, especially if you go in. One misplaced attack and you both get crushed. None of us can go."

"So what? Are we just going to wait out here for him to teleport away with that cube thing?"

"He would have been gone already if he wanted to."

"Okay, great, what do you want us to do? Cap is almost here with the rest of the gang."

"I'm...not sure."

**Eris**

One could only imagine the fury Eris felt when she got word that they had found him before she. Stark too. Stark and Cap had been the last of the group to fully trust her and, even now, they weren’t entirely sure. The fact that she hadn’t been too far away from where they found him also rubbed her the wrong way. Oh, how easy it would have been to put a couple of knives through the stomachs of police officers and have Loki – and the tesseract – to herself. Her foot twisted on the loose pavement and she took off in the direction they were in.

By the time she arrived, Stark was blasting at a pile of rubble like an _idiot_ while Thor stood next to him and fussed at him for doing so. Eris silently moved up behind them. “You’re telling me you didn’t blow his head off,” her voice was smooth as she spoke, “and then you missed not once, but _multiple times?”_ There was a scoff from Stark and a mumble from Thor. Cap and the others were going to be there soon and the closer they got, the smaller her window of opportunity became. She stood silent as they fell into argument again, seemingly forgetting that she was there. Her clothing turned to battle armor, traditionally Greek, and she pulled a knife from her hip.

All in a few moments, Eris had grabbed control of Stark’s emotional aura and he fell to the ground sobbing and desperately trying to speak into the communication system with the others. Mortals were easier to control than gods and Thor was a particularly difficult one to deal with what with the hammer and everything. When Thor turned ready to fight, she was quick.

“What do you think-“ Eris drove a knife into his body and used the momentary weakness to grab control of his aura as well. When he fell as Stark did, she gave him a good kick to try and dislodge the hammer from his grasp. This wouldn’t last forever. When Cap and the others showed up, it would get significantly harder. “You both had it coming.” She mumbled, turning towards the blocked off entrance. Normally, she would teleport inside but her magic wasn’t nearly as strong as it used to be. So she settled for the slower method, which was rummaging around until she found a way in.

Said entrance was found on top of the underground structure: a gap in the bent metal framing just small enough for her to drop through. Eris gave a look around before dropping through and into darkness. "You really gave those guys a run for their money. I must say..." Her eyes scanned the dark room for the glowing blue cube and the being that held it in his possession. This would be harder than anything outside. Loki was just as dangerous and just as volatile as she. "I do love the chaos. Well done."

**Loki**

The two bantering outside gave Loki some time to recollect his thoughts. He sat down, leaning his head back up against the side of a vehicle and looked up at the barely visible cracked ceiling. Thor was right about one thing; if he could have left, he would have done so a long time ago. But...even then, where would he go? More specifically, where _could_ he go to escape and for how long would he be able to stay hidden?

The voice of the Other echoed in his mind, reminding him of what awaited were he to be found.

_'You will have your war, Asgardian. If you fail, if the Tesseract is  
kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no **crevice** , where he cannot find you. You think you know pain? He will make you **long** for something as sweet as pain.'_

Suddenly the darkness didn't feel so comforting.

The Tesseract still lay dormant in his hands, emitting a soft blue light, but it continued to be unresponsive. If that wasn't frustrating enough, Loki had developed an irritable headache.

A commotion from outside pulled him out of his thoughts and Loki turned, his eyes narrowed as the rubble blocking the entrance shifted. Someone dropped in, though he couldn't tell who, and began to speak, causing Loki to immediately jump to his feet. It was a woman's voice, though not one he recognized.

He wasn't hidden; he didn't think he could be with the literal glowing object in his hand. Facing the voice, he held the cube to his chest as he searched his surroundings for any sign of movement. He hadn't heard what she had said, though he didn't really care.

You—" He cringed internally as his voice cracked. "Who are you?"

**Eris**

Eris's eyes locked on the glowing cube that revealed bits of black and green clothing on the person holding it. It was beautiful and if it wasn't for the task at hand and the clock ticking by, she might have stared into its beautiful, swirling surface for longer. Her eyes darted towards the face still shadowed by the darkness. She pulled her sword from her hip - the one that was perfectly crafted by Greek blacksmiths to aid the goddess in war. She strode towards him without hesitation. "Who I am is not any of your concern. I've got no time for pleasantries." Loki was significantly taller than her despite being much taller than the average woman.

The Avengers showed up outside to find what she had done to Tony and Thor. Their voices were just barely muffled as someone yelled orders to everyone and another made a comment about how they never trusted her from the beginning. She released her hold on the two to focus on getting the Tesseract from Loki. Thor staggered upright outside and yelled out in anger, for once not at his brother.

"ERIS!"

His booming voice made it through the rubble without much trouble. She glanced at the blocked off entrance, then back to Loki. She gave him a shove and an attempt to sweep his legs out from under him so she could grab at the Tesseract.

**Loki**

Loki narrowed his eyes. He didn't like her and he didn't like how she was eyeing the cube. When she drew her weapon, he instinctively shifted his stance to be more stable. It seemed as if the others had arrived from the sounds outside.

"Ah. Damn. I hope you know what you're in for."

Thor's deafeningly loud shout startled Loki, making him flinch and giving the woman the chance to make a move. He nearly dropped the Tesseract as she roughly shoved him and barely managed to avoid getting floored by skittering backward.

"Eris, is it? How quaint." He paused, considering her for a moment. "Tch. Did they find another pet to use? Regardless, I'm afraid it won't be that easy." Holding the cube in front of him, he twisted his hand and closed it to a fist, and with that the Tesseract vanished, leaving them in total darkness. Here, he had the advantage. "How much time do you reckon we have before they bring the building down on top of us?" Using his illusions, Loki projected his voice so it sounded like it came from all directions. The rubble at the entrance shifted again, this time with someone purposefully moving it.

"I would guess not long."

**Eris**

Eris nearly cursed when Loki came so close to losing the Tesseract. She jumped back and scoffed at his comment about her being another pet to use. Under normal circumstances, she would have shot back a comment about how they have nothing to do with this except for leading her right to him. But she was almost positive Loki was the type who would get some satisfaction out of a reply. She stayed silent in a defensive pose, calculating any possible next move. She eyed the cube again as Loki seemed to get some sort of pleasure out of making it disappear and plunging them into complete darkness, only slightly broken up by the hole in the roof she had come through.

His voice coming at her from all directions combined with the darkness was enough to make her a little dizzy. Eris stumbled a little at the sound and made a face of irritation. She blinked as pebbles fell onto them from above. They were truly going to bring the whole building down on top of them. "What? Jealous they wouldn't go through this much trouble for just little ol' Loki?" She made a tsk tsk sound. She couldn't see where he was in the darkness, but feeling out his aura wouldn't be hard.

"Jealously is quite the ugly emotion, Loki. How about we try some others?!" She mentally grabbed onto his emotions and quickly ran him through several one right after the other - sadness, fear, excitement, guilt, anxiety, joy, then back to sadness before letting go of his emotions with a snap. It was a tactic she got yelled at for doing to her twin brother when they were younger and often left people gasping as if they were holding their breath.

There was another ground-shaking shift. She glanced up above them. "I suppose Thor isn't thrilled about being stabbed..." She muttered before letting out a breath. The Avengers moved faster than she thought they would. She turned her attention back to the darkness and stood ready to defend herself if he came at her.

**Loki**

Loki held an arm over his head to shield himself from the dust and debris coming down from above. One of the cement supports off to his right cracked and shifted, groaning precariously. He took a wild guess and bet that it was probably Stark.

"Jealous? Of what, you?" He scoffed. "Hardly." He meant to say more, but he was suddenly seized by some sort of outside force. Any words Loki had ready gave way to a sharp exhale as it infiltrated his mind, grabbed ahold of his conscience and hurled it through his memories. The rapid change of emotions was unprompted, unexpected, and sent him reeling as flashes of faces and visions of past events came and went so fast that they were almost incomprehensible. The presence vanished, leaving behind an extremely unpleasant feeling that he had grown accustomed to during his time with the Chitauri.

Loki was jerked back into reality just as soon as he had left and found himself down on one knee, hands braced against the cement for balance. For a moment, he did nothing except stare unblinkingly at the ground. He could feel his hands shaking slightly, a shiver following it that went through his entire body as if to rid him of any remaining effects.

_What the **hell** was that? _

He didn't get much time to think about it. With a loud, echoey crash, someone broke through the wall that had been blocking the entrance. The building groaned with the shift, starting to buckle under its own weight. Not a second later, Stark appeared and immediately went for Eris, ignoring Loki who was a little farther off to the side. It wouldn't have mattered if he did though; Loki was currently preoccupied with his own problems.

Stark managed to shove the woman out of the way seconds before the ceiling's integrity gave in, dropping hundreds of pounds of rock where she had been just a moment before. "Out! Now!" He shouted to everyone, including Eris. He was ready to drag her out were she to decide not to cooperate. At that same time, Thor reached Loki, who had somewhat been snapped out of his daze from being a bit too close to the cave-in for comfort. Thor didn't wait for any reaction; he picked his brother up, and using Mjolnir, flew straight out and landed a safe distance across the street from the collapsing building, dropping Loki unceremoniously on the ground. Cap and the others were making their way over as well, though Stark and Eris had yet to show.

**Eris**

Eris gave a satisfied smirk at the sound of a sharp exhale. And for the few seconds, she had his emotions, there was silence. It seemed even for those few seconds, the Avengers had paused in their efforts. She couldn’t see Loki, but she could hear his alarmed breathing at whatever memories were running through his head – she never knew what caused the emotions in people, just that they happened.

She didn’t have the opportunity to continue the interaction with Loki. The entrance was being blown open with a loud crash. She spun to face the open entrance. Of course, it was Tony. That suit was impressive, she had to admit. She shielded her face both from the debris and the light that seemed much too bright after the total darkness they were in. The stone above them groaned and began to buckle, but Eris didn’t move until she was shoved out of the way. She looked to where she had been. Eris had come a little too close to being crushed like a bug for her liking.

Of course, being who she was, Eris did put up a bit of a fight. The fight of leaving without being grabbed by the famous Iron Man. He plucked her off the ground with ease and flew across the street to drop her from a little higher than necessary onto the ground. She landed with a grunt and rolled until she was on her back, gasping for the air that had been knocked from her lungs. She opened her eyes to find the armored hero looking down at her. “I told you I would find him?” Her voice was strained from being dropped. Even through his mask, she could tell that he rolled his eyes.

“I trusted you, Eris! And you betrayed us! You stabbed me!” Thor was now dealing with what seemed like two Lokis.

Eris didn’t sit up to look at him. “I’m not sure which was the worse idea.” She mumbled. Tony reached down and pulled her up by the fabric she wore. Maybe her planning skills weren’t the best and now she was back with the Avengers, though no longer on their good side. What would they do with her? Thor was in for a rude surprise if he tried to return the Grecian princess to Zeus. He no longer claimed her and she wouldn’t even be welcomed back to be imprisoned.

**Loki**

"He has the tendency to trust a little too easily," Loki laughed weakly, though a glare from his brother shut him up. The sadness in Thor's expression hurt more than Loki expected. The footsteps of the others grew louder as they arrived, Cap looking between Stark and the god of thunder, each with their respective captives.

"Is that it then?" Rogers seemed tired.

"Yeah, should be." Loki recognized that voice as Barton's, even though he couldn't turn to see. "Nat, the scepter?"

"Still have it. Didn't want to leave it behind in case your psycho brother decided to pull anything else." She looked at Thor pointedly. He scowled in response. " Banner's back at the tower as well. What about the cube?"

"Rudolph's got it," Stark said, keeping a firm grip on Eris. "Had it with him when I found him."

Thor took this as a chance to act. "Loki, where is the Tesseract?"

"And why would I tell you?" Thor pressed Mjolnir against Loki's chest. He wasn't going to take the usual. "Ow, ow, okay _fine_ —" Loki pushed against the hammer's weight with his arms as useless as it was. Thor pulled back, letting his brother breathe again.

"Show it."

He did. With a twist of his wrist, the Tesseract appeared in his hand. In a last-ditch effort, he attempted to use the cube again, but like the other times he had tried, it refused to respond. Barton plucked it out of Loki's hand, giving it a wary look before handing it off to Thor. "We're good to go?"

"Let's just get back to the tower," Steve said, "we can decide what to do with them then." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"You have her?" Thor asked, turning to Stark.

"Yep. Flying back?" Thor nodded. "Are you sure we can't just drop them off a bridge or something and call it good?"

"This is not the time for games, Stark," Thor warned. "Actions have consequences, and I will personally see to it that justice is served." Loki flinched slightly. He knew exactly who Thor was talking about. Oh...he was not looking forward to a family reunion.

"Fine, fine, whatever. Cap, Nat, Clint, meet you guys back at the tower."

"Will do."

Stark looked down at Eris, the hidden beginning of a smirk starting to form on his face. "Better hold on!" With that last-second warning, he shot up into the air, prompting Thor to follow, Loki in tow. He grabbed onto Thor's arm as the ground fell beneath them, hoping to lessen his brother's grip on him because currently, he could barely breathe. He growled in frustration, but Thor's hand stayed securely wrapped around his neck. _Gods,_ he felt like a child— he would die of shame before the Titan had the chance to look for him.

Luckily the trip wasn't long, the Stark tower quickly coming into view. Both men landed inside the balcony room, coming in through the shattered glass wall that had been destroyed in the battle. Banner kept his distance from all four of them as Thor procured a pair of handcuffs. Realizing he had just the one, he made do by attaching Loki to one side and Eris to the other, setting Mjolnir over top of the connecting chain so neither of them could go anywhere. Banner glanced over to them warily before approaching his two friends. "Where's the others?"

"On their way," Stark replied, already out of his suit and going over to the bar to search for anything that hadn't been completely smashed. "They'll be here soon."

**Eris**

Eris glared at Loki as he produced the Tesseract to Thor. At the moment, she hated both of them, and couldn’t help but wonder why her own brother didn’t care enough to come to stop her shenanigans on Earth. Where was Ares with his appreciations for her troublemaking and his own quick temper? Her eyes followed the cube until it was safe in Thor’s possession. She stood in silence as they continued to discuss what to do with them, her silence only broken by an amused snort at Tony’s comment.

Her eyes shifted to Thor. _I will personally see to it that justice is served._ She swallowed. “Go ahead, Thor. Call up Zeus. I’m sure you’ll love the results.” She could practically hear her father’s words in her head. _Eris is none of my concern anymore, Asgardian. You should have known better than to come to me._ Behind closed doors, Hera would beg him to allow her daughter to come back home, even if it was to endure imprisonment. Her twins were troublemakers, it was in their nature, it was how Zeus made them. Zeus would aggressively dismiss her. He was always awful to her mother.

During the mildly _terrifying_ flight, Eris began to wonder if Tony was actually going to drop her from such a height and allow her to splat onto the ground. Her magic wasn’t nearly good enough to survive such a fall. The flight wasn’t a long one, thankfully. She looked around at the shattered glass as they arrived. This had been where she started her day and definitely not where she imagined ending it – handcuffed to Loki and weighed down by that stupid hammer. Eris stared at its cold, silver metal for a few seconds.

Of course, she knew the story of Mjolnir. It was like someone not knowing the story of the Trojan War. This is why she didn’t even try to move it; Eris knew she wasn’t worthy and didn’t need to double-check. Instead, her eyes moved to the group as she passively watched their auras and vaguely felt their emotions. She put a block up in her mind and the feelings disappeared. Sometimes that was necessary to keep herself sane, other times it was nice to just have her own emotions to deal with.

Eris used her free hand to pull out the braid her blonde hair had been in. It was half-ruined anyway. She glanced towards her other side, finally seeing the famous Loki in person and out of the dark. Thor was beautiful to look at with his muscles and hero complex. His dark-haired brother was quietly handsome in different ways that she could appreciate a little more. Of course, she would never reveal that she believed this – could you imagine the results? Instead, an amused smile crossed her face.

“ _Rudolph.”_

**Loki**

Loki's thoughts were...for lack of better words, an absolute jumbled mess. Here he was, stuck with nowhere to go, no way to leave, set off to the side and made to wait as outside forces decided his fate. He tested the chain, knowing full well that nothing would happen, but attempting anyway. They were completely ignoring him, save for a glance from Banner every once in a while. Even Thor refused to look at him while they all waited for the rest to show up.

The feeling of helplessness was unbearable. He had been so close, so close to achieving his goal and crushing those who had doubted him under his feet. He would have been praised, admired, applauded... _noticed._ Maybe then his father would finally see what he was capable of. But even after all of that...

_What then?_

Maybe it all would have been finally over. Maybe he could have been done with everything and left, free of responsibility from the Order and found somewhere he and Frigga could live alone, unbothered. Maybe then he could have been happy.

 _Tch._ He knew that thought was little more than a childish dream. One didn't simply cut ties with the Order, and especially not with the Titan himself. There was no such thing as mercy when it came to failure, and Loki dreaded the thought of what would happen if— no, _when_ they found him again. For the first time in a long while, he had no plan. He was starting to wonder if going back to Asgard really was the safest choice, regardless of what awaited.

Again, Loki pulled against restraint, growing more frustrated with it with every passing second. That stupid hammer and its conditions; nothing but a bunch of fabricated and meaningless lies. The atmosphere was stiflingly casual as his brother's friends conversed, as if it were just another normal day and the planet hadn't almost been taken over by alien forces just hours before. It was all bad enough as it was even without the other person across from him who seemed to be in the same situation. He knew nothing about her, and from the looks of it, neither did anyone else. He caught her looking at him and he returned the gesture with an irritated scowl.

He hadn't forgotten what had happened back there when they were alone; he didn't think he could. What kind of gods-forsaken witchcraft did she know that she could manipulate him that quickly and easily? He hated it. She was just another obstacle standing in the way of his own desires and the fact that she was able to infiltrate so easily angered him even more. He prayed to whatever cosmic force there was that Thor would return her to whatever planet she was from and he would never have to see her again.

"Excuse me?" Loki responded, a bit incredulous at her offhand comment regarding Stark's strange fascination with nicknames. After all of that, she was still pushing limits? Truly, he would have acted similarly were it any of the Avengers on the other end, but coming from her, it was extremely irritating. "I suppose you find this all extremely funny then. Though I'm honestly not sure what else I would have expected from someone like you."

**Eris**

Loki’s incredulous attitude made her grin wider. It was a great response to get, honestly. She raised her eyebrows at his question. “Someone like me? Do you even know who I am?” She let out a laugh that caused Banner to look nervously over at them. She didn’t notice and kept her blue eyes trained on Loki. “And yeah I do find it funny. Your helmet does look a little like a reindeer.” She leaned an elbow against the hammer and gestured at the horns.

The others had turned their backs to the two while enjoying some drinks from a bottle that was miraculously not broken. She turned to look at them for a few seconds. There was no way Zeus would take her back. There was nowhere for Eris to go except back to Asgard. And something told her Odin wouldn’t be thrilled to house both his misfit son _and_ the misfit daughter of someone else. She wouldn’t be surprised if he just went ahead and executed her to be done with it. It was what her father would do if the situation was reversed. A bubbling nervous feeling formed in her stomach. She turned back to Loki.

“Look, let's drop the act and work together.” Eris was whispering now. She reached out to pull him closer to her to listen. Up close, the goddess smelled a bit like Lavender and the Earth after it rained and, well, at this moment, also the rubble of a building. “My father is not going to take me back, I can tell you that much. This means you’re stuck with me and Odin is going to be even angrier when Thor has to bring me to Asgard.” She nodded down at the hammer between them. “We need a plan.”

**Loki**

“Should I?” He honestly hadn’t the faintest clue, and neither did he really care. Loki caught Banner’s eye for a moment. That man was curious and extremely amusing. Loki probably only had to step in his direction and he’d be running. Such a foil to the doctor’s aggressive and beast-like nature of his other half.

Loki pulled back when Eris leaned closer. She was _way_ too comfortable with this entire situation and way too close than Loki would have liked.

...A reindeer. Again. _Seriously?_

“While you are as far from the truth as you could possible get,” he started, debated whether or not to be offended, “you aren’t the first to make similar comparisons.” Loki grumbled and dropped his extravagant Asgardian armor which faded into a green light, and then vanished. “Not like I would expect anyone on this damned planet to know anything.”

Loki sighed angrily, running his free hand through his dusty and extraordinarily messy hair. Gods, he needed to move. He was already going stir-crazy and it had only been a few minutes. The prince practically jumped out of his boots when Eris grabbed a hold of him, a fleeting sensation of fear passing through his head at the prospect of her doing whatever she had done before again.

“Don’t _touch_ me,” Loki snarled, roughly grabbing Eris by the wrist. “There is no act, no collaboration, and there never will be between us, you filthy witch.” He let go, throwing her arm off to the side in disgust. “What makes you think I would even consider you as an ally?” He glared at her, brows furrowed.

**Eris**

Eris would have normally lost her mind at the rough grab of the wrist and the nasty words. The goddess was not particularly known for her kindness and patience. It gained her quite the reputation as one of the few female warriors on Mt. Olympus. She flinched when he grabbed her by the wrist and went into a defensive mode, dropping her mental guard just in case he really tried to hurt her. Eris was about to react when she caught a fleeting feeling of fear from him. It was quickly replaced by the hot aura of anger that bubbled around his form. She stared at him with curious and confused eyes even as he snarled roughly at her. Was he afraid of her? Afraid of something, she could feel that. She dropped her when he tossed it to the side and stepped back. "Alright. Message received."

She was quiet for a few seconds, no longer looking at him. "I'm a goddess, not that it matters much anymore. Goddess of chaos and discord." And her life had, unfortunately, fallen into just that: chaos. "Grecian. You know. Mt. Olympus. Ares is my twin brother." She gave a slow nod to her own words. His words had hurt more than she had wanted them to. "You're no real use to me anyway. Can't even outrun big brother Thor." She turned away from him to both watch the three Avengers and indicate in her own way that the conversation was over.

She was truly alone here. No family to come to rescue her. No family to even punish her. No family to stand up to Zeus when he inevitably rejected her again. No allies. Eris had failed in her one-person army and it brought back the ache in her heart that had motivated the whole plan. She settled into a somewhat awkward silence with her fellow prisoner and even discovered that the cuffs inhibited most of her power and magic. She was tired and her body was beginning to hurt from the day.

It didn't take long for the other Avengers to show up to discuss what it was they were going to do. It became apparent that Thor was taking them back to Asgard for Loki to at least be imprisoned while Odin and Thor attempted to contact Zeus to _please come retrieve his daughter._

**Loki**

Loki paused for a moment, a bit thrown off by her more in-depth introduction. Grecian? Mount Olympus? That sounded familiar...had he read something about it once in the palace library? He quickly skimmed through what he knew about the other realms, though nothing seemed to fit. Maybe he had heard about this other realm before, but he wasn't particularly interested in Eris' origins. An incarnation of chaos or not, He had zero respect for her and it was clear that she felt the same way. The way she explained things like he was a child was rage-inducing. Honestly, he probably would have already stabbed her were it not for Thor having emptied his pockets of any weapons.

"I am not here for you, nor whatever mundane problems you might have," Loki snapped back in response to her comment. "My— Thor has nothing to do with this."

He waited for her to say something else, but she just turned away. Relieved, Loki decided to do the same and faced the wall, swiping irately at the shards of glass that kept seemingly appearing on his clothes and the ground around him. He gave a half-hearted tug on the chain again. The others talking in the background started to fade into incoherent noise as Loki switched his focus, folding his arms to the best of his ability and closing his eyes.

He let his mind drift off, removing himself from the present as he searched for something...someone. He was out of practice, but Loki found his mother's aura and attempted to reach out, but he was stopped short by some sort of wall that refused to let him through no matter how hard he tried. He couldn't see her; he couldn't even hear her, only the quiet mumbles of passing conversation. It had been so long since he had even attempted something like this, not since he left Asgard.

Had...she blocked him off? No, she would never. At least...he hoped she wouldn't. Regardless of the reason, she was unreachable. Loki tried and failed to hold in a frustrated sigh as he subconsciously rubbed at his wrist.

It wasn't long after that the rest of the Avengers arrived and immediately made plans, Thor taking the lead. Loki paid them no mind, but he could still feel them staring even though he couldn't see. The conversation they had was short, Thor having already made up his mind of what he was going to do. When the topic switched to Eris, however, something struck Loki as familiar.

Zeus. Now that was a name he recognized, but one he hadn't heard for a long time. Odin had once been allies in battle with Zeus as he conquered the known nine, though this was before Loki's time. A disagreement of sorts sparked between the two of them when they couldn't agree on something. What it was about was never named, though Loki had a sneaking suspicion that it was over the war spoils. The other god's name was rarely mentioned anymore and over time it had faded away from people's memories. Loki found out about it all by accident when he came across an old tome that was left, forgotten in an unused room.

So, this was the daughter of that god then. Loki took a quick glance back at Eris. He supposed that he might have expected something more than her.

The Avengers’ conversation had ended, and soon after Loki heard Thor approach from behind.

“Get up,” Thor commanded, holding his hand out and drawing Mjolnir back to him. Loki obliged and rose to face his brother, eyebrows raised.

“Scheduled a family reunion?” Loki quipped, earning a glower from Thor.

“Enough,” he said forcefully. “This ends now.”

“Does it?” Loki challenged, making direct eye contact with Thor. “This is far from over, in ways you can’t even begin to imagine.”

“Loki—“

“I don’t know; after today, I can imagine a lot,” Stark inputted from across the room. Loki rounded on him.

“And what would you know, Stark? Compared to what I’ve seen, this-“ he gestured outside, “is nothing. You think you’ve seen war? You haven’t seen the _half_ of—“

“I said ENOUGH!” Thor bellowed, glancing angrily between the two. “We are not here to fight.”

“Actually—“

Without hesitation, Thor turned and slapped some sort of device over Loki’s face, automatically locking behind his head and effectively silencing him.

 _“No. More._ There will not be another word from you until we are back on Asgard.”

Stark snickered from behind the bar, provoking Loki to lunge towards him, but Thor immediately caught hold of his brother’s arm. Loki’s nostrils flared as they exchanged glares. Thor released him and he jerked away, forgetting that there was another attached to on the other end and sub-sequentially yanking Eris towards him. Thor turned away.

“Let’s go.”

Loki looked down at Eris out of the corner of his eye, his eyes flashing dangerously as if daring her to say anything.

**Eris**

Eris stood when Thor approached. She wouldn’t put up a fight. How could she when she was attached to dead weight that she was sure wouldn’t cooperate? She raised an eyebrow as the brothers got into a bitter argument. And here she was, believing she was the one who didn’t know when to keep her mouth shut. She looked towards Stark as he made the choice to enter. The whole thing was mildly amusing if she had to admit. Normally, Eris started the arguments between people, but this one just formed all on its own.

The funniest part was when Loki was silenced by some device over his mouth. Eris caught Stark’s eye and, for a moment, there was a bonding between hero and villain. They both thought it was _hilarious_ , although Eris’s snicker was a silent one. Tony’s caused Loki to lunge at him, which yanked Eris forward by the arm. She smacked her face on the back of his shoulder and let out a sound of pain. When he looked back at her, she was rubbing her nose with her free hand and glaring up at him.

Once they arrived on Asgard, Eris wished they hadn’t rushed in to see Odin as quickly as they did. They had arrived during the beginning of sunset when everything was basked in beautiful golden light. The land was beautiful and Eris had only heard stories of it when studying Grecian military past. The two societies had once been allies in a great conquering but split on bad terms. She didn’t blame them; Zeus wasn’t exactly the easiest person to come to an agreement with.

Thor pulled them inside to be presented in front of Odin, who sat on his throne and eyed them for a long few seconds. He would look to Loki, then to Eris, then back to Loki, and over again. With a mumble to someone next to him, he sent the man off to get into contact with Zeus about his daughter. It would be the first time in hundreds of years that Asgard contacted Mt. Olympus. Odin started with his own son.

Eris glanced around the throne room. The art and architecture were beautiful and unlike anything she had ever seen. The art of another culture was always beautiful. Her eyes landed on a woman who, judging by her age and how she spoke with Loki, must have been his mother. She reminded Eris of Hera: gentle yet strong, loving but a stern mother, commanded a room, and the unfortunate wife of an _old oaf_. It brought about a feeling of sadness in her stomach. Eris missed her mother – her whole family actually. The woman’s eyes met Eris’ blue ones for a second and Eris looked away, almost ashamed that she was staring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More to come! Splitting this up into...kinda sorta chapters.  
>   
> We're still figuring out where to break it up lmao  
> Also, hi! I'm Treats, the other half of this account :D  
> I'll be using this font so you'll know who is who. This is a work in progress so forgive our slow start when we were less confident and didn't know each other as well aalkfsdjksj


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki and Eris arrive in Asgard after New York. Odin is Odin. There’s a chicken.

**Loki**

Indeed, there was no further conversation, though it wasn't as if Loki had the option. Their return to Asgard was uneventful; they were met with Heimdall at the gate of the Bifrost who said nothing as they passed, only nodding in Thor's direction. It wasn't long before the Einherjar arrived and took custody of both Loki and Eris, finally separating them and bringing them back to the palace in the center of the city.  
  
The guards didn't miss a beat. The moment everyone entered the palace, they made quick work of the two prisoners, exchanging their restraints with ones that were more heavy-duty. Loki seemed to get special treatment, however, as the Einherjar clasped iron cuffs around his neck, wrists, waist, and ankles. They weren't taking any chances. At least they had the decency to remove the muzzle Thor had placed on him. It all was ridiculous in Loki's eyes and complete overkill, but something about the lengths they had to go to in order to feel safe in his presence was extremely satisfying. Regardless of where it came from, Loki still commanded respect wherever he went. It felt good.  
  
After being herded through the hall and staring down any who dared to make eye contact, Loki entered the throne room, Eris and the Asgardian soldiers with him. Odin sat on an enormous gilded throne at the other end, staring down at them with an emotionless face, the spear Gungnir in hand. Thor didn't linger any longer than he had to and left quickly, no doubt to secure contact with the Olympians. Loki immediately spotted Frigga who was standing off to the side next to a column. The Einherjar allowed him to approach her, and he stopped, standing before her. The Queen's expression was strained, her brows furrowed with worry.  
  
"Loki—"  
  
"Hello, mother." They locked eyes. "Have I made you proud?"  
  
"Please," she whispered, "don't make this worse." Her voice betrayed her sadness and disappointment and her eyes were silently pleading for him to listen as they exchanged looks.  
  
"Define 'worse'."  
  
"Enough!" Odin boomed, interrupting the interaction between his wife and surrogate son. "I will speak to them alone." Frigga bowed her head in submission and stepped back, meeting Loki's eyes once more before glancing over to Eris. Loki watched his mother leave, staring almost longingly after her even when she disappeared out of sight. He could feel Odin's gaze boring into him, creating an almost suffocating aura that hung heavily in the air. Despite this, Loki raised his head, confidently facing the All-Father. Odin was masterful at the not-so-subtle art of guilt-tripping, but Loki was having none of that today.  
  
The prince took a few steps forward, stopping and drawing his feet together with a clang in a mock salute. The sound echoed in the vast, corridor-like space as Loki met Odin's eyes. Laughing softly, he dropped his gaze for a few moments before returning. "I really don't see what all the fuss is about," he said casually as if it were all no more than a minor skirmish.  
  
"Do you not truly feel the gravity of your crimes?" Odin asked, straightening up. "Wherever you go there is war, ruin, and death." He punctuated each word with emphasis.  
  
"I only went down to Midgard to rule the people of Earth as a benevolent god. Just like you."  
  
"We are not gods," the King corrected. "We are born. We live. We die. Just as humans do."  
  
Loki huffed. "Give or take 5000 years." There was a moment of silence before Odin continued.  
  
"All this because Loki desires a throne." He sounded tired, already weary of the exchange. Loki's face hardened and his voice suddenly took on a serious tone. He moved forward unconsciously, passing Eris who was by his side and pulling intently against the soldiers who were holding him back as if he were an animal.  
  
"It is my birthright—"  
  
"Your _birthright,"_ Odin shouted, his voice echoing almost painfully in the room, "was to _**die!**_ As a child; cast out onto a frozen rock _._ " Loki gritted his teeth, attempting to quell the rising anger in his chest. "If I had not taken you in," the King started again, this time less forcefully, "you would not be here now to hate me."  
  
"Well then." There was so much he wanted to say, so much he wished he could do, but for his and his mother's sakes, he resisted. "If I am for the axe, then for mercy's sake, just _swing_ it. It's not that I don't love our little talks, it's just..." he paused, glancing to the floor, "...I don't love them." At this point, it was clear Odin had had enough. He rose to his full height.  
  
"Frigga is the _only_ reason you are still alive and you will never see her again." Loki's eyes widened in surprise, his father's words piercing him like a dagger to the heart. "You will spend the rest of your days in the dungeons."  
  
Loki breathed out an almost inaudible 'what?' as he stepped back in retreat, his voice coming way too close to cracking. "And what of Thor?" He barked incredulously. "You'll make that witless oaf king while I rot in chains?"  
  
"Thor must strive to undo the damage you have done. He will bring order to the nine realms and then..." he nodded, "...yes. He will be king." And with that, Odin's conviction was ruled. Speechless, Loki gave in, eyes trailing the decorated floor underneath him as the Einherjar pulled him back, leaving Eris to be confronted in the same way. With his son subdued, for the time being, Odin shifted his focus to the Grecian goddess. He was no longer in any mood to play games or deal with any nonsense she might attempt, and his hardened glare powerfully reflected that.

**Eris**

Eris was silent throughout the entire exchange. It started with raised eyebrows and a look of disgust on her face that she didn’t try to hide. Odin was speaking truly awful words. When the King spoke his final blow, informing Loki that he would never see his mother, his family again, Eris saw red. It was exactly as Zeus had done to her – taken away her family. _You can’t do this! You monster!_ Is what she would have yelled at Odin if she hadn’t learned to bite her tongue a long time ago. Eris was, as one could imagine, a difficult child to parent in her youth.  
  
As Loki seemed to be struck down, for the time being, Odin’s glare moved to Eris. She returned with her own daggers and a head held high as she made no attempt at even a mock salute to the Asgardian King. Odin settled into his seat once more and looked at her once more.  
  
“Now what is Zeus’s firstborn doing here? I remember meeting you once as a little girl. I told your father you would make a fine queen.” Eris didn’t respond. What he said was true. She had been born 20 minutes before her brother, traditionally making the Grecian throne _her actual birthright_. Before Odin could continue, Thor returned to quietly give Odin the news Eris knew would come.  
  
“It seems as if your father won’t lift your banishment, even for imprisonment. Your crime was far too great.” He sounded irritated by the fact.  
  
“I didn’t do it.” Eris spoke quietly to Odin. Her words were barely audible.  
  
“You had rules put on you, Eris. You broke them for a half-blood love affair of all things.” So he knew the story, at least the story Zeus told. Eris had fallen in love with a demi-god, which was not permitted by the rules set for the princess. When Zeus found out… “You were furious after his execution. I’ve heard the stories,” Eris wouldn’t call ripping his heart out and leaving his body for Eris to find an _execution_.  
  
“I didn’t do it.” She spoke up louder this time, but Odin continued. Eris shifted, making her chains clang together.  
  
“You murdered hundreds of Grecian citizens, Eris! Children! You-“  
  
“ _I didn’t do it!_ ” Eris’s voice echoed loudly through the throne room, bouncing off the walls and ceilings she had been admiring just minutes before. Her tone dripped with the unnerving anger of someone who felt what they were saying with every fiber of their being. The echoes faded to leave the room in a still silence. The guard assigned to her made a move to block any advances. Odin had stood up to face her.  
  
“I now have the displeasure of holding you for your crimes, both current and past. You are a monster, Eris, and you will be put in the dungeons like one. You are a disgrace to your family and your father was right in making sure you never found your way to a throne.” But that was just the thing, Eris would tell you, it was _always_ his plan to make sure no daughter of his ever sat on the throne. If it hadn’t been this, it would have been something else. She had never been good enough, not strong enough for Zeus, not ladylike enough for Hera.  
  
Eris never broke eye contact with Odin, though her gaze was weaker. She wouldn’t show weakness in the face of a second accusation to a crime she didn’t do. Sure, she had gone after the Tesseract and attacked both Asgardian princes – she would admit to that crime. She was guilty of being hot-headed, cruel in war, stubborn, and being a merciless warrior. But she would argue for the thousands of years she lived that she was not guilty of the crime that got her banished from her life and home.  
  
Without another word, Odin gave the order to take them both out of his sight.

**Loki**

Loki was silent as his father continued, not even daring to look up for fear of making eye contact, though the chance of that actually happening was small seeing as the focus was no longer on him. He was relieved to be out of the spotlight, giving him time to breathe and cool off, if only a little. There was a tiny part of him that felt guilty for thinking so as Odin started in with Eris, the same guile in his voice as before. Even though it wasn't directed towards him, Loki had to hold back a flinch every time Odin raised his voice. The All-Father had always been stubborn and bull-headed to the point of inciting infuriation, but Loki would be lying if he said his father didn't know how to use his power and position to his advantage.  
  
The prince saw Thor enter the throne room out of the corner of his eye, passing him with only a glance to acknowledge his existence. His brother briefly explained Zeus' refusal to accept his daughter back, and though Eris didn't seem too surprised, it was clear that Odin did not feel the same way. Thor left after that, not bothering to stay after he had done his piece. Is that what he was now? Odin's messenger boy? The amount of unwavering loyalty Thor had for his father was almost sickening. Odin could ask him to sacrifice himself and Thor wouldn't stop to consider it for one second. Even for as stupid and reckless as he could be, he didn't deserve that.  
  
Loki's thoughts were cut off by Eris' shout, startling him into looking up to see her in a similar state as he had been previously. Interesting. Odin really was able to set off anyone if he wanted through his words, though Loki would argue that it only took seeing his face to produce that effect. Eris was no longer keeping together, and her loss of rationality made her more vulnerable to his observation.  
  
Being the god of mischief and having a somewhat long list of experience with lies, he had become quite good at telling whether or not the words someone spoke were true. He searched her expression, her stance, and her words, but nothing stuck out to him. Eris...wasn't lying. Or, at least she didn't think she was. She wasn't holding back either, he could tell that much from her passionate and aggressive tone. He hated to admit it, but to him, it was clear that she was telling the truth, or at least what she believed to be true. The mind is an odd thing in the way that it's possible to convince it of a lie, so much so that the owner honestly believes it to be the actual truth. Loki had the unfortunate opportunity to experience what that was like on a much more personal scale than he ever would have wanted.  
  
He wondered just how many years of practice Odin had needed in order to perfect his forms of manipulation.  
  
As soon as it had begun, it was over. When Loki looked up, he found Odin staring in his direction and he returned the gesture with the most hate-filled glare he could muster. His father didn't respond. Loki was happy to leave Odin's presence after that, though the reception outside did not feel the same way about him. He held his head high despite the countless wary looks he received from those they passed. A few he even recognized, though nothing about their expression echoed that sentiment.  
  
Finally, they entered the halls of the dungeons and the enclosing cavern that lay beneath the palace. The descent was long, and in the end, they were greeted by a corridor carved from blackened stone. The white of the cell interiors was almost blinding after seeing nothing but darkness and both Loki's and Eris' respective guards led them to the nearest ones directly to their left. He knew it was no coincidence that his father had placed him in the most visible and accessible place in the entire prison.  
  
All but three of Loki's guards fell back, the rest coming forward. The one in the middle brandished a key and his two companions already had their hands on the hilts of their swords. The prince felt a moment of hesitation as the soldiers stood beside him. "Test me," Loki seethed, "and see what I'll do." The man promptly unlocked his cuffs. Stretching his arms, Loki realized that he hadn't noticed how heavy it all was until they removed it. He rubbed his wrists and rolled his shoulders back, glad to have the burden of the many pounds of Asgardian steel no longer weighing him down.  
  
He watched as the Einherjar backed out of his cell, a golden field of magic replacing the empty space. Curious, he tested it with a hand, but as he expected, it was solid. One guard eyed him warily, but Loki paid no mind to him. None of the soldiers were intimidating, nor did he consider any of them a threat; they were nothing but mindless dogs at Odin's disposal.  
  
_Oh, his father._  
  
The accusations the All-Father had thrown at him earlier were still riling him up. How dare Odin denounce him for his actions when his very existence stood as a representation of every lie and hypocrisy that his father had dug himself into? After all that he had done, how could he hold anything over Loki's head and pretend that it was no fault of his? Had his father gone any farther, Loki wasn't sure he would have been able to hold himself back.  
  
Letting out a quiet sigh, Loki locked away his anger and frustration for the third, maybe fourth time that day. He was already furious at himself for losing his temper in front of Odin; it only gave his father all the more reason to believe as he did, though Loki doubted there was anything he could do at this point to even come close to making up. Despite the mess of thoughts running through his head though, he set it all aside. His back was towards Eris, but he could hear her moving around as the Einherjar for the both of them departed, leaving them alone in the quiet, save for the faint roars and shouts of the natives from Vanaheim on the level beneath them.  
  
There was a lot Loki could and wanted to say, but he wouldn't. Now was not the time for self-pity, especially in the presence of another. He chuckled darkly, clasping his hands behind him and rocking back on his heels as he spoke to the goddess for the first time since they had entered Asgard.  
  
"Infuriating, isn't he?"

**Eris**

Eris didn’t look at anyone or make any trouble on their walk to the dungeons beneath the grand palace. It was a long, dark descent and just as Eris’s eyes adjusted to the dark, the white cell interiors came into view and caused her to blink in discomfort. So this was where Odin damned her to spend the rest of her life. In a cell next to Loki of all people. Part of her would prefer a place in the commons with the monsters and their loud roars and cries. At least she knew how to handle monsters and hardened criminals. Loki wasn’t easily dealt with and she could imagine a few thousand years of suffering ahead of her. That sneaky bastard, Odin. Maybe he hoped they would drive each other into complacent insanity.  
  
The guards moved Eris roughly to her own cell, the second closest to the door next to Loki’s. The process was the same: three guards, two to keep hold of her and one to unlock the door. Eris wouldn’t have caused trouble if it weren’t for the guard on her right, who leaned forward whispered something wildly inappropriate into her ear and grabbed her butt. The goddess let out a short yelp and jump before stomping as hard as she could on the guard’s foot.  
  
“Ow! You little psycho!” There was a short scuffle as the guard on her left drew his sword and held it to her neck. The other limped off to the side. Eris didn’t move against the sword as the guard with the key, who just watched the scene, shook his head and unlocked the cell. Her cuffs were taken off, she was lead in, and just as Loki’s cell had operated, a golden shimmering wall replaced the space. That was that.  
  
Eris paced her cell as everything hit her. This was the closest she had come to getting back to her home. Raising an army of both the dead and fellow gods and goddesses who felt Zeus was a cruel leader. It had been at the tips of her fingertips. The closest she had come to avenging the death of the one she had loved. Not that it would bring him back. Not even Hades could raise the dead in that way.  
  
The difference between Eris and Loki was that Eris allowed herself to feel her emotions. She felt them as passionately as she could make other people feel them. That had been a lesson Hera taught her and something she learned herself as she explored her power over them in other people.  
  
_If you hold back on your emotions - if you don't allow yourself to go all the way through them - you can never get to being detached, you're too busy being afraid. You're afraid of the pain, you're afraid of the grief._  
  
Feeling wasn’t a sign of weakness; You could still be strong and a force to be reckoned with. There were still some she was afraid to face in their entirety. Even as Loki attempted to speak with her, she turned her back to him and moved to the far side of the cell. She cried her sorrows until she was silenced by sleep, laid out on her side on the floor before she even had the chance to attempt to conjure up a bed with magic that was out of practice.  
  
Her breathing was steady and her hair a golden contrast to the white cell as it spread out around her like the goddess was tossed to the floor by some larger force. It was the stillest she had been since the beginning of the day and in her sleep, her face turned to one void of irritation, anger, or sadness. When she awoke, she would be able to think clearer about her situation.

**Loki**

Loki was a bit surprised that his question was met with silence; he would have at least thought Eris might say something on the matter, but she made no attempt at a response. She also made it blatantly clear that she didn't want to be bothered by moving to the farthest corner of her cell. Loki didn't mind, in fact, he was quite content with the quiet. It was welcomed after the rigors of the day.  
  
_**Gods** , this day._ Loki barely remembered how his morning went. It really wasn't that long ago, but damn, it sure felt like an eternity. In fact, now that he thought of it, it wasn't too different from where he was now. Around 24 hours ago, he had been in the S.H.I.E.L.D. Hellicarrier, trapped in a similar cell, but that— that had been under his own conditions. Then, he had a course of action, something to go off of and reliable backup in case something went awry. Then, everything he did had a purpose, everything was planned out, everything had been under _his control_. How ironic for it all to backfire so quickly.  
  
Loki saw movement in his peripheral vision, and he turned slightly to see that Eris was already down on the floor, probably to rest. Part of him wanted to do the same, but he was far too on edge to be comfortable enough with closing his eyes. He'd never admit it, but he was nervous and kept subconsciously checking the shadows every once in a while for any sign of suspicious movement. Honestly, he wouldn't be surprised if someone came to kill him during the night. It wasn't as if Odin had suggested that he wanted Loki dead, no, instead the King had outright admitted to the planning of his son's execution, saved only by the fact that Frigga intervened.  
  
The prince huffed quietly, tugging at his fingers while he stared at the ground. He doubted Odin would have the guts to do something like that anyway. The old man was far too cowardly and weak; he could barely even stand some days, let alone murder a family member. Well, that last part was debatable. Shaking the subject off his mind, Loki was about to continue his pattern of pacing that he was starting to develop when he heard a soft sob from Eris' side of the cell. He turned towards her, wondering if he was imagining things, but it came again, this time a bit louder.  
  
Was...was she _crying?_  
  
Loki stepped a bit closer to confirm that indeed, she was. He cocked his head slightly to the side, confused. What did she have to cry about? If anyone, she was going to be the one let off easy for all of this, especially when her family got involved. They were supposedly part of another pantheon of gods somewhere far off (if they even did exist), so what was stopping her from going back? Even if what Loki's father said back in the throne room about Eris was true, even that could hardly be considered as a reason for life-time imprisonment. Killing a few mortals didn't warrant such a strict punishment, or at least, he thought it didn't until today's events. But still, it seemed as if Odin didn't particularly have any previous qualms with her as he did with Loki, so what was the problem?  
  
Surely, Odin's words couldn't have had that profound of an effect. It seemed unlikely, but Loki couldn't completely rule out the possibility, especially with her being less than ten or so feet away from him. That, and the fact that she didn't seem to be letting up any time soon. Loki gave her a quick lookover. It didn't look like she was hurt physically, at least no more than she had been before, and her rif with the guards earlier hadn't been anything serious, though admittedly he wasn't really paying attention when it happened.  
  
It might have just been his elevated perspective, but in the cold white light, she looked incredibly small and fragile and could hardly be considered competent enough to warrant a team invite from Thor. Loki couldn't imagine the reason Eris might've had to make an alliance with them, even if it was only temporary. She had obviously wanted the Tesseract, but for what reason? The cube was powerful, but it had specific uses and limitations that Eris seemed to know about. Where did she come from? And why did it all have to involve him? If it hadn't been for her interference, he would have found a way to escape, even with one of the most powerful beings in the universe on his tail and the malfunctioning Tesseract that he was still completely clueless about. Probably.  
  
Loki wondered how long they had been down here. An hour or so, maybe more? He didn't know; there was no way for him to check, but it was sunset when they had entered Asgard so the sky was probably dark by now. He could have been wrong; his internal clock was still completely broken due to the conditions of the past few months. Open space was comparable to eternal night and there were hardly any times where he had seen a star or another planet while onboard the Chitauri base. Couple that with the vigorous and violent training regime of the Black Order and an indeterminate amount of hours spent under the Other's all-seeing watch, the opportunities he had to rest were rare and far, _far_ between. Though It wasn't as if he could sleep tonight anyway, not after everything that had happened.  
  
Eris had gone silent not too long ago, and Loki guessed that she must have fallen asleep. He wished he could do the same; he was exhausted both mentally and physically and desperately needed that time to recuperate. However, he knew that he wouldn't be able to even if he tried. He settled for the ground, leaning against the back wall. Loki attempted to reach out towards his mother as he did earlier, but found only that nothing had changed. _Where was she?_ He closed his eyes in order to focus and broaden his search but instead was immediately greeted with the Other's hooded face and its unmistakable garbled growl of a voice. Loki's eyes snapped open and he jerked backward, his head hitting the wall behind him with a painful thud. He cursed under his breath and pushed away from the wall, rubbing the back of his skull with his palm.  
  
From somewhere in the universe, they were still watching, just like they always had been. He would no longer try for results if it could potentially threaten the planet and his mother's safety. That, and Loki had no further desire to see the Other, then or in the future. The temperature around him seemed to drop, though he wasn't sure if that was just the draft that blew through the stair entrance or his other half creeping up on him. They had tried to use that against him as well, thinking that his Jotun heritage might be of some use, though none of the hundreds of things they put him through had worked. So far, the only things that would do the trick were direct contact with another Jotun or the Casket of Winters, but even then it had been so long since either had happened and really, it was one of the last things Loki wanted to dwell on.  
  
Somewhere inside, he hoped that maybe somehow he had gotten rid of that part of him altogether, even though he knew it wasn't as easy as simply wishing it away. He had hardly any knowledge about it all anyway, and anything older than two years ago was a struggle to conjure up. Everything before Thanos was fuzzy and convoluted; all of Loki's memories were so unclear and vague, him only being able to remember basic events and interactions that dispelled quickly if he sought further information or detail. Whenever he tried to draw on a memory directly, it just changed and shifted, leaving him more confused than he had been to begin with. Regardless, there were things Loki knew for a fact that were true, one of them being his brother's betrayal and how he had been thrown off the broken bridge, left to die alone in the void of space. Yet that was _still_ something that Thor denied happened at all.  
  
Suddenly, the interior lights of the cell shut off, immediately plunging the dungeons into darkness. Loki guessed it was some sort of timed curfew. The soft, warm glow of the golden barriers provided the only source of light other than the dying torches on the walls. He would have forgotten that he wasn't completely alone if it weren't for Eris' quiet breathing.  
  
The sound of footsteps alerted him and he immediately stood, facing the hall's entrance. Soon after came three, possibly four figures that descended the stairs, though it was hard to tell. They were each carrying something, and Loki watched them warily as they approached him, preparing to retaliate if needed. His guard dropped as they got closer, however, as he recognized them as his mother's personal handmaidens. Each was carrying a small magic-based light source of their own, no doubt having learned how to do so from Frigga.  
  
"Prince Loki," one of them spoke, her tone hushed. "The Queen has sent us to deliver some items for your personal comfort." Loki's face softened slightly.  
  
"...For me?"  
  
"Yes...we were told by Odin that we were forbidden from bringing anything to the Grecian after she attacked one of his soldiers earlier." Loki paused.  
  
"...I see." Another stepped forward, handing a small stack of books through the barrier that Loki accepted and set aside. He did the same with the change of clothes, though hesitated when a blanket was offered. "I have no need for this," he stated.  
  
"Are...are you certain?" Loki nodded and she retreated. "What would you like us to do with it?"  
  
"It doesn't matter to me." He had just reached out to take a small box when he looked to his left to find that the youngest of the group had taken the blanket, entered Eris' cell and was lightly placing it over the top of her.  
  
"I would be careful if I were you," Loki warned, startling the girl into looking up at him. "If you do that with everyone, you'll get yourself killed." As if to punctuate his point, there was a loud 'crack' as a sharp pain traveled up his arm, his inattentiveness having let his hands get a bit too close to the opening in the barrier that one of the handmaidens had made. They jumped as he pulled back, holding his arm to his chest and sucking in a frustrated breath through his teeth. "My case in point."  
  
They left soon after, taking their light with them.  
  
Time passed unbearably slowly as Loki laid against the back wall, staring at the patterns on the golden barrier. He had already tried reading, but he struggled to keep even a small magical light alive. It didn't matter too much though; everything was blurry and incomprehensible, and exercising any kind of mental force only made it worse.  
  
He had spent the last few long hours in a state somewhere in between consciousness and unconsciousness, floating between the two in a tiring limbo that never seemed to be able to decide on one or the other. Changing positions didn't seem to help either.  
  
His mind would wander off to wherever it could, sometimes coming close to sleep but then the arm he was leaning on would give way under him and he would barely catch himself before falling over. As the hours dragged on by though, Loki's thoughts became less and less coherent until finally, his body couldn't take anymore and he passed out on the floor, his sprawled-out form turned away from the light of the golden barrier.

**Eris**

The lights turning back on was what woke Eris. When had they been turned off? She let out a soft groan as she stretched her body out and pulled the blanket up over her face. When had she received a blanket? What kind of prison gave blankets to prisoners? Her eyes opened under the blanket. It was of decent quality, nothing you would find in a bedroom. But it was warm and soft. A sigh escaped her lips. She was truly awake now and going back to sleep wouldn’t be an option, although she did feel better from the night before. She could think clearly now. Thankfully her sleep had been good. Exhaustion often ensured bad dreams didn’t come. She sat up and ran a hand through her hair, ruffling it so that it shook out down her back. It had suffered a bit of dryness since being thrown from Mt. Olympus.  
  
She stretched her arms upward and stared up at the ceiling for a few seconds. The shifting of her shirt revealed the edge of a tattoo on her arm. Much to Hera’s dismay, Eris had tattoos scattered around her body. Most were scenes from battles, one was a constellation map, and another, one that spread from her shoulder to collarbone, was matching with Ares. It had been tradition for soldiers and their leaders to get tattoos, although Eris had been discouraged from doing it.  
  
Here Eris was, stretching and waking up like she had something to do that day. Her stomach rumbled with hunger, but she ignored it. This was going to be her days for a long time; Her family wasn’t coming for her and Odin, who knew of the crime she was accused of, wasn’t going to let her free for a while. It hadn’t just been a few mortals. Hundreds, with some demigods tossed into the mix, had been killed and Eris was an easy person to blame. She stood, picked up the blanket, and began folding it during which she noticed that the sleeping Loki also had stuff. Books, a change of clothes, a few magic lights. She paused.  
  
She was jealous, to say the least. Eris wasn’t sure which would be better, a form of entertainment (though she would prefer painting supplies) or new clothes. Whoever delivered the items must have given her the blanket – she didn’t give Loki enough credit to have done it himself. She shook her head and finished folding the blanket. After it was dropped in the corner of her bare cell, she began pacing and thinking. She had magical capabilities, at least she used to. Her uncle Hades had been the one to teach her when she was young. The ability was in there, she was just rusty with it.  
  
The goddess’s movements were similar to that of a cat. No one ever accused Eris of not being graceful – Hera and Zeus had tried for a short while to get her to be a dancer when she was younger. She stopped and looked down at her hands. Book. Book. Leather bound with soft paper. She focused as a gold light appeared in her hands. It quickly left and Eris was holding a book. She grinned and opened it. The pages were blank. She frowned and tossed it into the corner with her blanket. Maybe she could conjure up some colored pencils. She just had to think of all the colors….maybe some fancy ones with feathers on the top, how fun would that be? The gold light appeared as she thought and disappeared to leave….rooster.  
  
Eris stared at the bird on the floor of her cell, her mouth slightly open. “Rooster?!” She whispered to herself, followed by a curse word. It looked at her and began to cluck. She fell to her knees in front of if. “Shhh shh sh” She was trying to get it to quiet down before it woke her cranky cell neighbor. _How did you get rid of stuff again?_ Eris couldn’t remember. It clucked louder. “Hey hey…” She was trying to sooth it. Did chickens have emotions to manipulate? Before she could answer her own question, it let out the loudest crow she had ever heard.  
  
Eris slapped a hand over her mouth and stared at it with wide eyes. She stifled a laugh as it kept going. She stayed still. Maybe if she didn’t move, Loki wouldn’t see her sitting in front of the rooster that woke him from sleep.

**Loki**

Loki sat bolt upright the second the rooster crowed, being immediately on edge after only a few hours of extremely light sleep. He jerked his head towards the stairs at the entrance, thinking that some sort of alarm had caused the noise, but found out quickly that that wasn't the case when the bird crowed again. Holding his palms against his ears, he turned towards Eris' cell to see a strange-looking colorful creature on the ground which was seemingly the source of the sound.  
  
Was that...? No— _what?_  
  
The prince blinked rapidly, trying to get rid of the bleariness that was inhibiting his vision. He had to be imagining things. There was no way for this animal to have gotten down here in the first place, but no matter how long he looked at it, it didn't disappear. The bird paraded around the enclosed space, screeching. The sound was painfully ear-piercing after everything had been so quiet, and Loki looked up to find Eris watching it as well, her being just as surprised as he was.  
  
"What—" Loki was still having a hard time registering what he was seeing. "Where—?" The rooster had just noticed him and it came trotting over to the barrier that separated the two rooms. It stopped crowing as it watched him with beady eyes as he approached. The bird stayed quiet as Loki knelt down in front of it, his expression a mix of puzzlement and absolute confusion. There's no way this was actually happening. The rooster clucked and pecked the barrier, sending a small ripple of light across its surface before the bird lost interest and turned its attention to the floor.  
  
No, he wasn't imagining anything. By some unexplainable means, there was an actual, live chicken walking around right in front of him. Loki met Eris' eyes, searching for any kind of explanation. Being forcefully woken up was irritating, but this...this was something he _literally_ would have never expected to happen.  
  
"What the _Hel_ is going on—"  
  
Loki speaking seemed to set the thing off again, and to his despair, it started crowing, this time even louder. He clapped his hands over his ears again, cringing at the unbearable noise. If he could have, he would have already strangled the thing.  
  
"Where in the NINE REALMS did this thing come from?!"

**Eris**

Eris watched as the bird checked out Loki through the barrier. There was a brief period of silence and Eris slowly lowered her hands into her lap. She met Loki’s confused gaze and knew that her own gaze back provided absolutely no answer to what was happening. She desperately tried to communicate through facial expression for Loki to keep his mouth shut. She slowly reached for the rooster as Loki spoke up again. The thing leapt into the air and went off again causing Eris to leap to her feet as it paraded around squawking.  
  
She looked back to Loki who had his hands over his ears and was yelling at her. “Don’t yell at me!” She yelled back at him. “I was trying-“  
  
_Squawk_  
  
“I saw that you-“ She was wildly gesturing to the books and clothes he had in his cell.  
  
_SQUEAL_  
  
“I just-“  
  
_SQUAUL_  
  
With a few swift steps, Eris scooped up the bird. She pet its head. “Shh…” Her emotional powers didn’t work on it, but it calmed nevertheless. Finally, she spoke to Loki.  
  
“I saw all the things you had and I wanted some too. So I tried to conjure a book.” She nodded in the direction of the leather bound book. “But you can’t conjure a whole book. _Obviously_.” She spoke like that idea was common sense. “So I thought maybe I could get some colored pencils and do some drawing because I like to do that. And this,” She held up the chicken towards Loki, “is really not pencils.” With the movement, the chicken bit her hand causing Eris to drop it in minor irritation and draw her hand into her chest where she held it with the other.  
  
“You know how to get rid of things don’t you? Just tell me how.” The rooster started making noises like it was going to crow again. “Or it’s just going to keep doing that!”

**Loki**

"Oh, thank the heavens," Loki breathed as Eris managed to calm the little beast down. He lowered his arms tentatively in case the bird decided to spontaneously shriek again. "If it starts up again, I'll kill it." He was quieter now, having learned his lesson already. He continued to watch the rooster, narrowing his eyes at it.  
  
Eris mentioned the things his mother had had delivered to him last night; he glanced back at them and gave her a somewhat bewildered look. "You mean those? I don't—" Loki stopped short as she pointed to the other foreign object in her cell. "Wait, what do you mean you tried to 'conjure' a book? That was you?" She talked about it so casually, as if the knowledge to create physical objects was commonplace. "Are you telling me you made that? And _that?"_ He lifted his arms, gesturing towards the rooster Eris was currently holding. Her doing so got rid of any doubts Loki might have had that it wasn't just an illusion. He looked at the bird with a newfound curiosity, still not quite believing what he was seeing.  
  
"Get rid of it? What- no—" The rooster clucked, the start of another awful crow building up as it fluffed up its neck feathers and raised its wings. The damned thing was about to go at it again. "Why are you asking me? I have no clue what you did; how am I supposed to know how to reverse it?! I deal with illusions, not things that are tangible, or volatile, or—" he struggled for words, throwing his hands up in confusion, _"alive?"_  
  
The rooster went off like a fire alarm and Loki covered his ears again as it screeched, attempting to leave Eris' cell through the barrier and only getting louder and more frustrated the longer it tried.

**Eris**

Eris stared at him incredulously as he questioned that she made the book. "Yeah, I just told you I made it, whats wrong with you?!” She covered her own ears as the rooster tried to leave the cell and was screeching louder in its failure. “What?! You don’t know what I did?” She raised her eyebrows at him. “Illusions? What are you even going on about?” She made an attempt to catch the creature again but it eluded every attempt.  
  
“Well you’re tangible, volatile, and alive! How does one get rid of you!?” She threw her arms up at him as she, yes, compared him to the screeching chicken. That made the second animal in less than 24 hours. “Ok ok I’m sorry.” She quickly apologized before he could respond and made motions with her hands for him to calm down. “Just stop playing games and help me! It’s _possible_ to get rid of it, I just can’t remember.” She gestured towards the animal as she yelled over its cries.  
  
Gold light formed in her hands as she made a frantic attempt herself. The light dissolved to the ground as it did absolutely nothing. Eris' frustration was apparent in the irritated cry that escaped her body. It was hard to draw back memories of lessons in a situation like this.

**Loki**

Loki's mouth dropped open at Eris' comparison and he scoffed incredulously, looking extremely offended. She was quick to rescind it before he could say anything, and rightly so, but he wasn't about to let that slide. He'd let her off for now, but he would _definitely_ be addressing that later.  
  
It was also clear that she was NOT helping the situation by antagonizing the rooster further as she tried to catch it. The thing was absolutely mad; if she did actually end up grabbing it, it would probably scratch her face off. _"Games?"_ He shouted. "I'm not the one who started this whole damn thing!" Loki watched as she tried and failed to do something magic-related, afterward completely losing her cool. She wasn't going to get anywhere acting like that.  
  
"If you would stop for a half-second, maybe—" The rooster screeched, stopping Loki mid-sentence. " _Maybe_ you could think more clearly!" Well, whatever Eris was trying to remember, it was taking way too long. He quickly ran through his head for ideas; what the Hel would a chicken even want? Out of desperation, Loki extended a hand face down and lifted it up while bringing his fingers together and in a flash of green light, a mottled gray hen appeared on his side of the barrier. The illusion ruffled its feathers as the actual rooster took an immediate interest.  
  
Loki stepped back hesitantly, holding his hands up in a surrender-like gesture.

**Eris**

Eris stopped and glared at Loki. "I told you not to yell at me! It doesn't help!" She yelled back at Loki's shouts. "I just wanted to draw! I didn't _mean_ to do this! You're the one playing games and not helping me!" She watched as he finally, with a wave of his hand, created a hen on his side of the barrier. She marveled at it for a second. Was that very real looking hen one of the illusions he had mentioned before? To be able to do that would unleash all sorts of mayhem from Eris. How fun would that be? She blinked as Loki slowly stepped back and the rooster was subdued for now. It did strange mating dances at the illusion as she thought.  
  
She didn't want a chicken in her cell, even if it was quiet for the time being. "Thank you..." She muttered as she walked herself in a small circle and thought. What had Hades taught her? She stopped, faced the chicken, and took a breath. She extended a hand towards the chicken and gave her wrist a twist. The chicken swirled into the space behind it and blinked out of sight. They were plunged into a silence that breathed relief into the goddess. "Thank the go-"  
  
With the same blink that made the chicken disappear, it suddenly reappeared on Loki's side of the barrier. It fell about three feet and landed on the floor with a scrabble of panicked claws. Eris's eyes went wide with surprise as they were thrown into the poultry chaos once more. And she really couldn't help herself. The goddess burst into laughter, her laughs echoing off the walls just as her shouts had seconds ago. The fact that Loki had to deal with it now combined with the entire situation was hysterical. She stumbled backward in her laughter. For the past few minutes, the whole situation with prison and her family melted away. Fighting an irate barnyard animal with Loki had taken every inkling of that away from her mind, at least for the time being.

**Loki**

Loki let out a careful sigh of relief. Whatever he did seemed to be working, at least for the moment. Hopefully, it would keep the bird occupied until he could come up with something a little more useful than a temporary distraction. Groaning, he looked up at the ceiling and dragged a hand down his face.  
  
It looked as if Eris was trying to find a solution herself, but Loki didn't really care as long as she did _something_. Whatever it was, it gave him time to pull back for a second. His head was still pounding from the adrenaline of being woken up so suddenly; all he really wanted was quiet and this was literally the exact opposite. Admittedly a little curious, Loki glanced over at Eris to find that she was already taking action.  
  
"If you end up mutilating it, that's your—" He stopped as the rooster suddenly vanished. The hen illusion was still moving around, but it seemed as if Eris had actually managed to get rid of it. That thought lasted less than a half-second though as the bird suddenly reappeared, this time literally inches in front of him. He jumped back as it landed clumsily on the ground, squawking irritably as it flapped its stubby wings and scratched against the floor in the attempt to right itself.  
  
"What did you do? How— how did you do that?" Loki stammered, eyes on the rooster as it got up, swiveled its head around, and started towards the hen. It pecked at the feathers, and as expected, went straight through. Confused, it tried again, only to get the same results. It cawed in frustration as Loki dropped the illusion, to see the rooster now staring at him and looking extremely pissed.  
  
Oh.  
  
" _Fjandinn—_ " he swore, which was all he managed to get out before all ten pounds of feathers and fury came running at him. He dodged it without much trouble, but then grabbed it the second time around after realizing that none of this was going to fix the problem. He held it up and away from his face so it didn't completely clobber him, but it still took full advantage of Loki's bare hands, pecking and scratching at any available spot. Eris, on the other hand, must have thought the whole thing to be absolutely hysterical as she started laughing.  
  
_Ow, ow, ow—_ He kept a firm grip on it, managing to trap its wings against its body so it couldn't keep slapping him in the face with them. "When I said get rid of it, I didn't mean _'move it to my side'!"_ Out of all the things that had been happening, here Loki was being assaulted by a very angry oversized bird. Honestly, he would have killed the thing were it not for the fact that he really didn't want the body of a dead animal in there with him. Gods knew how long it would be until the Einherjar came around; Loki was sure that no one was actively volunteering for the job of dungeon crawler.  
  
"It's not funny," he protested, narrowly avoided getting his nose bitten. "Do something! Take it back, I don't know—"

**Eris**

“I don’t know!!” Eris truly had no idea how she had done that. It had been done out of panic, not patience and logic, _which was how magic should be done_. “I just panicked!” She spoke through laughs, although, judging by the cursing, Loki didn’t find it as funny as she did. The mighty God of mischief, the trickster himself, always serious, always grumpy, Loki, running from and wrestling with a chicken. Eris was pretty sure anyone would find this scene hysterical.  
  
“I got _rid_ of it. Where it went isn’t my problem…” She muttered through giggles. She supposed this couldn’t go on forever and Loki seemed to be telling the truth about not knowing the magic. Eris let out a breath to calm the giggles that kept bubbling up, though an amused grin was unable to be wiped from her face. She approached the shimmering barrier between them and watched the scene for a few more seconds. What was it that she had done? If she could just get it out of both cells, the creature was someone else’s problem.  
  
Could magic even work through these barriers? She gave it a poke. It seemed like it would be smart to inhibit magic through these. Yet she had been able to read the emotions of a few passing guards. Eris held her hand out to the chicken and, with the same twist of the wrist, it swirled and blinked out of sight. Below them, the chicken’s sound could be faintly heard over the startled cry of whatever poor monster it landed on. Faint yelling of other men could be heard below, probably those of the poor Einherjar who had to deal with a chicken. And like that, Eris had managed to cause problems, even from an underground cell.  
  
Her eyes flicked downwards towards the sound, then back up towards Loki. Small chuckles were coming back to her now. “I got rid of it, didn’t I?!” She ran a hand through her hair and walked a small circle in her cell as she got used to the quiet once more and let the adrenaline calm down a bit. She stopped and faced him again.  
  
“Can you teach me the illusion thing?” She had no idea how he would react to a question like that, especially after she had basically conjured an attack chicken.

**Loki**

"It most certainly is your problem!" Loki continued to struggle with the rooster who was frantically trying to escape. It managed to get one of its wings loose, but the second it did the whole bird just disappeared. He still had his arms outstretched, staring at the spot where it had just been. "What did you do?" He asked suspiciously. "Where did you put it?" His question was quickly answered. Whatever Eris did must have worked because not a second later, chaos ensued somewhere below them as the chicken undoubtedly changed focus to whatever new targets were in its vicinity.  
  
" _Kæru guðir_ ," Loki muttered under his breath, letting out a frustrated sigh at the same time. He closed his eyes, massaging the bridge of his nose. Thankfully the whole situation was no longer his problem anymore, but he was still far from a forgiving mood. "If you ever do anything like that again, I _swear_ I'll kill you myself." Now that the bird was literally no longer in his hair, he checked his hands and found them to be covered in a myriad of tiny scratches and marks. A stray strand of hair fell in front of his face and he brushed it away, picking out the few feathers that had stuck to his head.  
  
Loki made a small _hmph_ in response to Eris' question. Yes, she had gotten rid of it, which he was grateful for, but she had done it through what was probably the most roundabout and inefficient way possible. While she paced around, Loki briefly made a section of the back wall appear as a mirror-like surface. He was unsurprised at the bedraggled state of his hair and clothing, along with the dark circles under his eyes that never seemed to fade. Dropping the illusion, he ran a hand through his mess of hair a few times, ridding it of any remaining form it might have had since yesterday. Not only did he look like an absolute wreck, he felt like one too. The headache was persisting and his mind refused to decide whether it was worth it to have a go at Eris or not.  
  
He gave up on trying to tame his hair and leaned back against the white wall, covering his face with a hand. If this was how it was going to be for the rest of his existence, he was going to go insane long before Odin had the chance to do anything else. To his annoyance, Eris spoke up again. Loki peeked through his fingers to see that she was looking at him expectedly.  
  
"...What?" _His_ magic? Was she seriously asking that after they had just gotten rid of the problem that _she_ had created? He had no idea where she was in terms of magical ability and clearly didn't understand what she was currently capable of. The last thing he needed was for her to mess an illusion up and bring about some unholy abomination, only to discover that she couldn't get rid of that either. No, no. No, no, never; definitely no.  
  
"Teach you?" Loki scoffed, bending down slightly and putting his hands on his hips as he completely overdramatizing his pronunciation. "No. Absolutely not! You obviously aren't able to handle whatever knowledge you currently have and I don't want to know or deal with whatever else you might 'accidentally' conjure up."

**Eris**

Eris mumbled something incoherent when Loki mentioned killing her himself. He could barely hand a chicken without ending with his hands all scratched up. Now a duel with Loki would be fun. No Avengers breathing down her neck, either. She had both magic and warrior training. The only thing he had over her was size and strength and _those stupid illusions._ And although he had tricks up his sleeve, they were birds of the same feather. She had those too. There was a silence between them as Loki made a mirror to look at himself.  
  
She couldn’t get a good look at herself through the shimmering wall, but she was sure she looked ragged, maybe even a bit insane. She knew her long blonde hair was a mess if his looked as it did. Maybe they were both not at their best. Eris desperately wanted a hot bath with those lavender soaps she always loved. She was exhausted but Eris was hard on her body – through illness and exhaustion she never let herself rest until someone forced her to. That person was usually Ares or Hera, but neither of them had seen her in years.  
  
At Loki’s response, she let out a soft scoff. “I can absolutely handle what knowledge I have, I’m just a little out of practice.” She approached the barrier and leaned on it with her palms, causing the shimmers to form little outlines around her fingers. She watched him with a thoughtful expression, her lips slightly parted like there was a word stuck just behind them.  
  
“Is the _great_ and _strong_ Loki afraid of a little magic practice? After what I’ve heard about you, I thought you would jump at the chance to share the amazing wisdom you’ve accumulated over all those years.” She let out an exaggerated sigh of disappointment. “I guess the God of Mischief isn’t as fantastic as all those stories said…a shame…” She paused to flick her eyes to him to see his reaction before pushing herself off the wall and spinning to walk towards the far side of cell.  
  
“What a real shame, indeed. When the heroes in the stories aren't nearly as great as you thought.” She made a _tsk tsk_ sound as she snatched the blanket up off the ground, wrapped it around her shoulders, and sat down with the book with blank pages. A gold flash in her hand revealed a plain pencil – simple things were easier to conjure than things with many parts. It still appeared without an eraser at the top, a mistake that she wasn’t going to allow Loki to see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing like a chicken to start up some actual conversation, yeah?
> 
> The best line of the whole story is in this chapter tbh.
> 
> chimnken


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a prison break ensues and everything is mysteriously quiet afterward for unspecified reasons.

**Loki**

"'Out of practice' would be putting it lightly." He approached the barrier at the same time she did. "No, it's more..." he paused, stopping directly in front of her, "...more like inexperienced. Ill-versed. Naive—? Oh!" He clicked his tongue, his eyes widening as if he had just realized something great. "How about incompetent?" Loki leaned a forearm against the transparent wall, watching as Eris placed her hands against it. He hadn't really noticed it before, but now that they were next to each other, he realized just how short she was compared to him. It was kind of funny. Her attempt at convincing him, however, not so much.

" _Excuse_ me?" Loki huffed, clearly taken aback. "For what reason would I be afraid? It would take you a thousand years to learn what I have, and frankly, I don't have the patience to go along with it, nor do I care." He raised his eyebrows at her with an unconvinced expression, catching her eye for a second before she left. "Flattery will get you nowhere. It means nothing, especially not coming from you."

Loki knew that she was just trying to push his buttons, but it still was making him mad. "And that," he started, "is also a lie. The only stories about me are the ones my father spreads in order to deface my name." Though that could very well change soon with the Order out who-knows-where in the universe looking for him. "So, though I'm sorry to say," he said sarcastically, "whatever or whoever suggested otherwise has been severely misinformed. And I..." Loki paused and let out a breath. "I am no hero."

He was about to leave her to whatever mundane activity she was going to occupy herself with when he saw the flash of magic from her hand, drawing his attention back. He studied the pencil she now held, squinting slightly. Eris proceeded to ignore him, but Loki found himself staring as she wrote. Her set of magical abilities was so foreign to him, he didn't even know where to start. So far she had displayed her capability of conjuring solid, real, _physical_ objects from nothing, and...that other thing she had done to him yesterday afternoon.

 _What would you even call that?_ It wasn't anything like he'd heard of or felt before, but it seemed like she was actually able to manipulate others' minds and emotions at will. Loki could remember when his mother had attempted to teach him a similar tactic, but he had refused, unwilling to hurt her in any way and hadn't touched the subject since. How long ago was that? Three hundred— maybe four hundred years?

"If you want to talk about magic," Loki began, breaking the silence, "then answer me this." He turned and seated himself on the ground, looking back at Eris over his shoulder. "Did your— who was the one who taught you?"--

**Eris**

Eris had looked up him as they leaned against the barrier at each other. The goddess was tall for a woman, but he seemed to be taller. Eris’s personality always made her seem larger than she actually was, though. She had given him an amused look at his mean jabs. If it were coming from anyone else, she wouldn’t have been as amused. But something about her obviously pushed his buttons as much as he invoked uncontrollable sassy remarks from her. And as she sat down against the corner, cozied up in the blanket with a sketchbook and pencil, he continued for much longer than she thought he would.

“Well aren’t you just the expert at sniffing out lies.” She said quietly in response. His buttons were easy to push and she had a sneaking suspicion that he could do the same to her if he wanted to. She stared down at the blank page for a moment and quickly decided on a sketch of an imaginary world with imaginary creatures. She leaned her head against the wall and looked down as the pencil scratched against the paper. She could feel his eyes watching her and it made her uncomfortable.

She glanced up when he broke the silence and sat down on the ground of his cell. It seemed like he was in the mood to _behave like a normal person_. She was silent for a few seconds, finishing up the quick outline in the book.

“My uncle. Hades.” She started on a tall skyscraper-like building. “He’s the God of the Underworld and the dead.” She gave a little information on _who_ her uncle was. “My father forbade me from learning magic. All of his daughters actually. Forced my mother to stop when they were wed. He considered it unladylike. So, excuse me if I seem, what did you say? _Ill-versed?_ ”

Maybe his mean words had struck a chord. Zeus only valued the boys in their family and it was obvious by the way she spoke. Only Eris and her younger sister, Athena, who had become an even better warrior than Eris, rebelled against it. Ares had seen the injustice and didn’t like it. He became a teacher to her when it came to fighting. He would push her to practice with him twice a day and didn’t allow her to back out. Eventually, he got her included in his official lessons. She paused to shade something in before continuing.

“Anyone who has met my uncle knows Zeus has no power over him. I snuck out at night a couple times a week for lessons.” She decided she didn’t like her sketch and flipped to a new page. “I was born with the ability to see, feel, and manipulate the emotions of others.” As Loki had experienced the day before. “Hades believed it was only right that I learned other things to make that stronger. And I just kept going.” She practiced calligraphy on the next page.

“I assume your mother taught you?” Eris made a guess. Odin obviously seemed entirely against Loki and after spending some time with Thor, she knew he _definitely_ didn’t have any magic to teach. Nice guy, really, just a little dim in that area. “Unless there are any other family members I haven’t encountered here.”

**Loki**

Loki stayed quiet as Eris started into an explanation, giving him a basic idea of where she came from. From what she was telling him, her own father didn't seem to be the greatest of guys either and some of the things about him she described sounded awfully similar to Odin. He felt a twinge of guilt when she quoted his own words back to him. Though was facing her now, he was staring at his hands and fiddling with some ripped seams on his shirt. Eris didn't look up while she talked either. She was giving him a lot more information than he ever thought she would, though he didn't know why. It wasn't like she trusted him, and him her either.

Eris telling him about sneaking out at night brought back a particularly fond childhood memory of when he managed to convince Thor to come with him into the forest outside of the city limits in search of what Loki had told him was a fairy ring. It didn't actually exist, but Loki had just learned how to create light at the time and he wanted to play off of his brother's curiosity for a few laughs. The journey to the clearing they were going to ended up taking a lot longer than Loki had expected, and several times they had to help each other escape from rogue branches, hidden streams, and thorny bushes.

He remembered feeling angry and annoyed by the time they actually got there, but Thor had been enthusiastic the entire way and stood there grinning like an idiot; twigs and leaves stuck in his hair and dirt smudged all over his face. Loki hadn't had the heart to mess with Thor at that point and instead, to his best ability, created what he thought a fairy ring might look like, with little glowing lights to match. He never actually ended up telling his brother what his original plan was. Thor probably had figured it out, or maybe he even knew what Loki was planning to begin with, but the fact that he still went along with it was... nice to think about.

Loki raised his head when Eris asked him a question, having almost got lost in his own thoughts. "My mother; Frigga. Yes." He spoke about her with reverence only she was worthy of. "She taught me everything I know. We had always gotten along, even if I and my father didn't. I and him were often at odds with each other; he wanted me to learn how to fight like a 'true warrior', but I suppose you can see how that turned out." He chuckled, tapping his fingers against the floor. "And no, it was just mother, father, Thor, and me. There's never been anyone else—" Loki inadvertently stopped, having reminded himself of the other lineage he carried. _Did that even count?_ "No," he said, continuing as if the odd break hadn't happened. "Just us."

** Eris **

Eris’ suspicions were confirmed by Loki, who spoke about Frigga with great reverence. It was the same way she spoke about her twin. Eris reached out to feel Loki’s emotions and suppressed a small smile when she found warm happiness that came with speaking about someone you loved very much. That was always a feeling she enjoyed feeling, even if it was just for a moment. Frigga had seemed gentle, even when Loki was caught in his crimes. It seemed to disappear when he spoke about his father. She withdrew and his emotions faded from her own mind. She gave a scoff when he said Odin wanted him to fight like a true warrior.

How different yet similar they were. Eris was desperate to be a strong warrior despite her discouragement and Loki never wanted that life. She noticed the pause in his speech and immediately reached out again to feel the emotions that went along with it. Had the pause been from losing his train of thought or something else? The coldness that met her said that there was something else. The unpleasant emotion made her twitch, the only sign that she was reading him as he spoke. She let out a breath and gave a nod. “Well, your mother sounds like a beautiful and wonderful person.” Her words were soft and held truth to them. She meant what she said. The emotions she felt told her they were true.

Eris put the book aside and stood up so that she could sit across from him with the barrier between them. She sat and folded her legs under her. “I had…have…a twin who I’ve always gotten along with. Ares. Sometimes it’s nice to have that person in your family, someone you can always count on.” She smiled a little and felt a bit of sadness. It had been years since she had seen Ares and she missed him painfully. Sometimes she reached out to find him – the twins were linked – but found nothing.

She shook her head. “Enough about family, yeah?” She looked at Loki across from her. “Teach me illusions and I’ll show you how to…” Another pencil appeared in her hand and this one had an eraser, “conjure things.” She tossed it over her shoulder with a grin. “I don’t know how to get rid of that. We’ll figure that out later.” She gave a small laugh at herself.

**Loki**

"Oh." Loki hadn't expected her to return his comments with the sincerity that she did. "And yes, she truly is." He sighed as Eris moved over to the barrier. "I fear that she may never see me the same after all this. Though who would?" That last part was more to himself than to Eris, him having muttered it under his breath. He raised his eyebrows when she mentioned a twin though, humming thoughtfully. He also nodded in agreement with both her points about family.

"You really want to know." He said it more like a statement than a question. "You're still serious about this?" Loki's eyes followed the new pencil, watching it as Eris threw it behind her. "And that also could potentially be a problem if you don't know how to quell anything. He rested an elbow on his leg. "How am I supposed to know that you won't summon another rooster? Or something equally as annoying."

**Eris**

Eris laughed and shook her head at his comment about conjuring another rooster. “No more roosters, I’ll be sure of that.” And with that, she plunged into the same explanation Hades had given her when he taught her how to do it. At first, it would take extreme focus on the object. It was easier to conjure duplicates of things you could see. Coming up with something required knowing every detail and any distraction could lead to to...well…rooster. If you wanted a book with words, you would have to take the time to go through every word contained in it. And eventually, certain things would have a feeling. Pencil felt different than book and book felt different than shoe. “Living things are usually off-limits. Something simple like my accidental rooster comes with personality problems. Hence why our poultry friend was so angry. And conjuring anything more complicated…” She gave a shutter and just shook her head. It never worked. Humans and similar beings were so complex that it was impossible to replicate.

The magic practice had gone better than she could have imagined. They both seemed to relax more as time went on. Eris made her first illusion, a simple looking table, and Loki had conjured his first item. Something he could use, of course. Because they hadn’t reached getting rid of it yet. It was exciting to learn new magic again. Eris had even gotten a couple of genuine chuckles out of Loki, something she found satisfying coming from someone who seemed to rarely allow himself to relax enough to do that. They had played with magic until the prison lights turned off. This had prompted a laugh from Eris as she looked at Loki in the dark. Their faces were illuminated by the shimmering wall. “Goodnight.” She stood up and disappeared into the darkness of her cell.

The next few days weren’t exciting. There were no more rooster incidents. Thor and his buddies began bringing in criminals from Vanaheim and the top floor no longer belonged to just Loki and Eris. The man put on the other side of Eris was a brute who often said mean and inappropriate things to her. That was when Eris found out that her manipulation powers didn’t work through the walls. She had grumbled and sat up against the wall that separated her and Loki. Even when they weren’t interacting, it was easier and somehow more comfortable to sit in silence with someone like him than deal with the guy on the other side. When they did talk, their conversations were often full of sassy remarks. Eris compared him to a 3rd animal. But sometimes they were calm conversations about this or that.

Though, when Frigga showed up in Loki’s cell, Eris felt as if she couldn’t get far enough away from what seemed like a personal conversation. She tried to make herself occupied with her sketchbook and pencils, but it was nearly impossible not to listen. She even glanced up at the same moment the queen was looking to her. They made eye contact and Eris reached out for her emotions. She was met with nothing. It was only an illusion like Loki had taught her. Eris blinked and quickly made herself busy again with the original sketch in her book. The whole thing was...awkward.

**Loki**

Loki would have never admitted it in a million years, but playing with magic and having someone who sort of understood what he was talking about was... refreshing. He couldn't remember the last time he had actually sat down and done some studying of his own. He had finally gotten Eris to understand the concept of 'not real' enough to the point where she actually was successful in creating her own illusion on her own. Though 'success' might be pushing it— who in their right mind would summon a table? He supposed that it was her first time trying, but really, he would have been more impressed with something less boring than a furniture item.

The night came and went and for a day or so, he was in fairly good spirits. However, that didn't last long. Some kind of skirmish was happening, which Loki found out due to the abnormal increase in prisoners that seemed to be growing with every passing day. He had learned from eavesdropping on a few passing Einherjar that the problem was on Vanaheim and was currently being taken care of by Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three. Apparently, the locals near the forest were having trouble with foreign raiders who were destroying houses and taking supplies and materials. It seemed simple enough, so why not just kill them and be done with it instead of dragging them all the way back to Asgard to take up space?

Loki also knew that as long as Thor ran the operation, he would aim for the least amount of casualties. At least, until he was challenged directly of course. What a drastic difference that was from the previous war-driven action-seeking person that he had been not too long ago. Ever since Thor had been to Midgard, he had brought back traces of the realm and the mortals with him, most notably his sudden new-found respect for life. He had been reckless before, but he hadn't just changed; it felt as if he had done a complete 180 and dropped everything he was just because of a mortal woman. His brother's thinking process baffled Loki, and he didn't try to understand it any further.

Every day, the hall became louder as more and more of the ragtag off-world fighters continued to come in. As much as he had hated it before, he almost wished it was just him and Eris again. At least she was quiet and had the decency to not bother him. It wasn't unexpected, but the newcomers were vile, angry, and crude and they took every opportunity to go at each other even if that other person was four cells down and across the hall. It got to the point where sleeping became literally impossible, which only put Loki on edge even more. He had been forcefully woken up more than enough times and it took all his will not to start a row with a particularly nasty creature across the hall that seemed to be interested only in badgering Loki whenever possible.

The only thing that wasn't awful were the times when his mother had arranged for a variety of things to be brought to him. It was only two or so nights ago when he had woken up to find a whole damned set of furnishings with him, including a small corner couch that he started using as a makeshift bed. Loki had been able to clean himself up a bit, thanks to what had been provided for him. He fixed his hair back to a manageable state, almost slicking it back how he used to do it before he caught himself. It had grown out since he had been gone, reaching just past his shoulders. With that and a fresh set of clothes, he was feeling a bit more like himself which helped a little. At another time, he might have been grateful, but at the moment, he was having a hard time appreciating much of anything.

Admittedly, he had been ignoring Eris most of the time, but he was doing that to everything in order to cut himself off from the world outside his prison else he might drive himself mad. His interaction with her had dwindled considerably, and though he sort of missed their conversations about magic, he found himself continually snapping at her every time she attempted to bring it up. He knew he was being rude, but the ever-present irritability he constantly felt prevented him from feeling guilty about it.

Morning had come around once again, prisoner population still being, for the most part, asleep at these hours. It was one of the few times when things held just the tiniest hint of peace. Loki had been up and watching the newest round come being led by Volstagg and Fandrall when he felt another presence with him. He immediately recognized it as his mother. "Odin continues to bring me new friends," Loki mused as he paced. "How thoughtful."

"The books I sent, do they not interest you?" Loki turned, confirming Frigga was there. His eyes flicked to the growing pile of books that he had set along the back wall. He really was glad to see her, It was not like his mother to open with pleasantries such as this or for her to wait so long to do so. He had a sneaking suspicion that Frigga was going behind Odin's back, even just to speak with him. Gods, even just thinking of that pathetic excuse for a king was enough to make his blood boil. Combining that with the exhaustion from the past few days and him having been unable to find hardly any time to relax, Loki was not currently an agreeable person.

"Is that how I'm to while away eternity, reading?"

"I've done everything in my power to make you comfortable, Loki."

"Have you?" Loki questioned, using the back of a chair for support as he leaned towards his mother. He took on a more sarcastic tone. "Does Odin share your concern?" Frigga raised her eyebrows at him, giving him a look not unlike one she would give an unruly child. Loki ignored it. "Does Thor?" He sighed dramatically. "It must be _so_ inconvenient them asking after me day and night."

Frigga's response was immediate. "You know full well it was your actions that brought you here." Loki gave a quiet scoff.

"Ah. _My_ actions." He pushed off the chair and took a couple of steps away from her, turning his back. "I was merely giving truth to the lie that I had been fed my entire life, that I was born to be a king."

"A king?" The question held a hint of incredulity. "A true king admits his faults." Loki faced her again, his hands clasped behind his back. "What of the lives you took on Earth?"

He couldn't believe she would bring that up now, especially when both of them knew _very_ well what Odin had done in the past and what he was capable of and still willing to do in order to keep his position as King of Asgard untarnished. "A mere handful compared to the number that Odin has taken himself." Frustration had already begun to creep into Loki's voice and he was having a hard time preventing it from going any further.

"Your father—"

 _"He's not my father!"_ Loki snapped, immediately whirled on his mother and silencing her with a vicious shout, his calm composure completely shattering in front of her face. All signs of restraint were gone as he stood over her, shoulders tensed and arms now at his sides. Frigga didn't react to his outburst and instead met his hate-filled glower with a sorrowful one. Loki took a few deep shuddering breaths.

How _dare_ she still claim he was a son of Odin after everything that had happened, after everything he had done? Loki thought she understood him and knew how he felt. She was the one person he could continually rely on to empathize with him when he needed it, yet here she was, here, of all places, defending that bastard man.

"Then am I not your mother?"

The shift in her tone was audible and heavy and it made Loki hesitate. His expression was unreadable as he fought with himself and his angered thoughts, but he had been pushed too far for too long and this had finally shoved him across the line. Frigga stared up at him, waiting for the answer she knew was to come as he rolled his shoulders back and raised his head.

"You're not."

There was a long, hard pause as Frigga stood there, the beginnings of tears visible in her eyes. She made a quiet 'hm' noise and flashed a brief, empty smile. Her face gave away more than her words ever could. "Always so perceptive," she whispered, drawing closer to him, "about everyone but yourself." Loki pretended to be unaffected, but it only took a few moments for his resolve to break and he gave in. He broke eye contact and shook his head, reaching for her open hands only to find that it was only a projection. He felt the ghost of her touch as his hands went through hers, disrupting the image and initiating its deconstruction.

Loki watched as his mother disappeared before him, casting his gaze downward as the last shining remains of light vanished. He swallowed, tensing his jaw as he fought the sting of the beginning of his own tears. Where there had been fiery rage just seconds before now sat an empty void, leaving him feeling hollow and worthless. He stood there, unmoving and so caught up in the tidal wave of guilt that washed over him that he didn't even notice when his nails dug into his palms. With just a few words so much had been exchanged, and now all he could see was Frigga's disappointed and saddened expression. Lowering his head, Loki closed his eyes in a silent defeat.

**Eris**

Eris physically cringed at the very moment Loki completely lost his cool at Frigga. She couldn’t help it anymore, the conversation had her full attention as her pencil fell into a small scribble on the paper in a poor attempt to make it seem like she was still drawing. She let out a silent breath at the hurtful words and only caught a part of the expression Frigga made in response to them. The entire interaction was emotionally fueled, something she could tell without even reaching out. Her form finally dissolved away, leaving Loki standing by himself.

Despite the waking of different prisoners going on around them, it felt quiet. Eris couldn’t tear her eyes away from him as he seemed to fight tears and any other emotions. She would never admit it out loud, but she wanted to reach out with calming emotions. Eris knew better than that, though. The last thing she wanted to deal with was his rage being turned on her. That would just make an already irritating day worse.

“Your boyfriend looks sad.” A voice came from the other side of the barrier next to her. Eris tore her eyes away from Loki to look at the man crouched next to her. She made a face at him.

“When I get out, you’re going to be the first I kill.” Her words were a calm irritation. This caused the man to erupt in laughter, which prompted Eris to hit her fist against the shimmering gold at him. The barrier made a crackling sound at the impact. The man straightened his legs and walked off, still chuckling. Eris let out a breath and shook her head.

She hadn’t been sleeping well since the prison was filling up and it was making her irritable, although not as much as Loki. At least not yet. She had, though, managed to conjure up a bed. It had taken a while, as she had to focus on going over all the parts and how she thought they might go together. It was pushed up against the back wall and was far more comfortable than the floor. A comb for her hair had been next. Eris had spent some time going through the tangles in her hair until it was silky once more.

Eris watched Loki for a few more minutes before deciding it wasn’t worth her trouble to speak up. Whatever family troubles were going on, it wasn’t worth it to her to get involved with an already volatile Loki. Eris had a shred of self-preservation, believe it or not. She would think about the words later when things had calmed down. Instead, she settled back into daydreaming and occupying herself. She only looked up towards Loki again when a man approached his cell. He looked gruff and like one of the prisoners who should be inside a cell rather than outside one.

**Loki**

After the row with his mother, Loki decided to lay low. He felt he had attracted enough attention for the day, even though the vast majority of the other prisoners couldn't seem to care less. Which, for him, was completely fine. Despite what had just happened, it had only taken him a few moments to pull himself back together and regain his more aloof composure. He was aware of the publicity around him and had done so as quickly as he could so as to not further tarnish his image.

Eris had yet to say anything since Frigga left, though it was clear to Loki that she was feeling awkward about it.

Currently, he was laid down on his bed and had been entertaining himself for the last little while by tossing a cup into the air and catching it. It was fairly mindless, which gave him room to think, but he hadn't spent long doing so about Frigga. Even though she had been there with him only fifteen or so minutes ago, he found himself putting the entire conversation out of mind. He didn't want to dwell on it any further.

A faint noise prompted Loki to stop. He held the cup still, arm still extended from catching it the last time as he listened a bit more carefully. He heard it again, though this time he was able to identify it as coming from somewhere down the far end of the hall. The lights above him flickered, and he narrowed his eyes. _Something_ was going on. Intrigued and wanting a distraction, Loki set the cup down on the floor and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He caught Eris' eye for a quick moment, sharing a curious look before moving over to the far side of his cell.

He couldn't see far due to the inset angle of the walls except for faint flashes of light that were getting closer. A small bunch of now ex-prisoners came running past as a hulking figure entered Loki's view. The thing was covered with vicious spikes and horns, protruding out of its shoulders, head, and arms, and it seemed to be the one causing the uproar. Loki's suspicions were confirmed when he witnessed it approach one of the cells and punch a hole straight through the barrier, which disappeared with a loud _'crack'_ of energy. The beast definitely had some impressive strength.

Soon, the entire hall was up in a riot with people racing to and fro, abandoning their now darkened cells in favor of joining the mob that was quickly growing. As they gathered near the stairs with makeshift weapons, the instigator reached Eris, having just released the man who was teasing her earlier who gave her a mocking grin and a demeaning wave of his fingers as he ran off to join his fellow rebels. The first fleet of Einherjar had arrived, immediately engaging the opposing group and filling the hall with the sound of clashing metal and thrown punches.

Loki watched as the monster eyed Eris as if it was considering setting her free, his hands behind his back in his usual casual position. However, it decided against it, giving the same ruling to Loki when it passed. The prince met its eyes, silently challenging it as the hint of a smile appeared on his face. It growled and turned away, enormous claws out and ready for battle as it moved towards the ongoing fight, but before it was out of earshot, Loki spoke up.

"You might want to take the stairs on the left." Perhaps he might create a mild inconvenience for Odin and hopefully ruin his day. The thought was amusing.

** Eris **

Eris heard the faint commotion at the same time that Loki’s arm froze in a catching position with the cup in his hand. She looked up from her seated position towards the hall outside her cell. The lights flickered above them. She glanced towards Loki, who met her gaze for a moment before she scrambled up to her feet and moved to the shimmering wall that faced the hall. It only took a few seconds for ex-prisoners to round the corner into their level of the prison. They were followed by a large, menacing-looking monster.

She leaned against the wall to get a better view as the monster punched a hole clean through the barrier of a cell a few down from her own. Her eyebrows raised and a sideways grin appeared on her face. The monster released her tormenter and moved onto her. She watched as he gave her a mocking wave before running off. Her eyes flickered down towards the monster, who seemed to be questioning if she was worthy of joining the rebels.

Of course, she was worthy. Eris would be a perfect addition to any army or group of ragtag criminals. How funny the universe was, bringing a great war commander down to a criminal behind shimmering walls in a realm that was not her own. While Loki took on a more menacing persona, Eris grinned a grin at the monster that hinted at the chaos she could bring. He looked her up and down, then moved on. A thin, tired-looking blonde woman didn’t exactly look like the strongest, most formidable ally.

The grin dropped from her face as quickly as it had appeared. An irritated groan escaped her lips as she spun around to retreat to what she was doing before the monsters escaped. If they weren’t going to let her out, she no longer cared about whatever it was they were doing. The monster seemed to give the same ruling to Loki as it had Eris. He, apparently, didn’t exactly look overly useful either. She shook her head as Loki continued to interact with them, giving them directions to a certain stairwell.

As the ex-prisoners left to battle whatever was waiting for them, the prison fell to silence. Eris paced the cell, feeling antsy from not moving too much throughout the day. The prison around their cells was destroyed. As the silence drew on longer and longer without anyone coming to check, it became apparent that something was very wrong. Eris walked up to the barrier with a puzzled look on her face. The quiet had become eerie.

“Something isn’t right.” Her voice held no concern or fear. She spoke it more as an observation than anything else, more or less to Loki.

**Loki**

Loki had been staring out at the ruined hall for a few minutes now, ... The most likely dead bodies of those who had fought still littered the ground. The entire scene had been untouched since the fight had moved from outside the dungeons, and nowhere since had there been any sign of conflict resolution. He might have figured that they would have gotten the situation under control fairly quickly and then maybe brought the remaining prisoners back, but there was nothing to suggest that was the case. Loki had not seen a single Einherjar for hours.

He had his left arm crossed over his chest and the other's elbow resting on it as he supported his head in his hand. Loki had appreciated the quiet for a bit, but something was unnatural about this, especially considering how long it was going unbroken and the fact that the last thing that had happened was a whole damned prison break. Well, almost. As far as he could see, he and Eris were the only ones whose cells were still functioning and online, the rest being darkened and empty. Loki wondered if somehow the fight was taken off-world, but even then, Odin wouldn't have sent the entirety of Asgard after a bunch of low-lives. It didn't make any sense.

Eris voiced his thoughts before he could.

"Clearly," Loki agreed, drumming his fingers against the side of his face. "I haven't a clue what's keeping them. Odin might be battle-hardened, but this—" he nodded to the state of the outside, "is strange. Not even Thor would leave a mess like this lying around for so long." He turned away from the scene, pressing his knuckles to his mouth. Did that one brute really do so much damage in such a little amount of time? He walked over to Eris while still glancing back at the grimly-lit wreck behind him. Surely they couldn't have gotten _too_ far.

"With Thor around, they wouldn't have even reached the main floor."

**Eris**

Eris' gaze had fixed on the dead body of a prisoner across the room. Even as Loki approached her, she didn't look at him. She was busy trying to reach her power as far as it would go. Not to pick up any one specific person, but to see if there was anything at all. The general emotions of a group were stronger and easier to feel than an individual person. Such a task left her unable to do much else except stand and stare, even as Loki spoke to her through the shimmering wall.

There was nothing. Maybe she couldn't reach that far. But then she found it - a group of emotions. She had no idea who they were - maybe the prisoners, maybe Asgardians, maybe Thor and Odin themselves. They were faint and she had to focus on them.

Sadness.

That was the overall feeling. She couldn't get anything else, though she knew there was likely more. It was an unsettling feeling that made her stomach feel uneasy. A slow breath escaped her lips and she glanced at Loki before looking down at her hands. They were curled into fists that she released. She was quiet, unsure if she should tell Loki of her findings. Maybe it had been a stray person who wandered above the prison. Maybe she had caught the emotions of a not yet dead prisoner. Maybe it was nothing at all, not worthy of any conversation. Eris turned to face Loki.

"I'm sure it's handled. And everything is fine." Her words, even to her, didn't sound overly convincing. She never claimed to be the goddess of lies, after all. "I'm just a little upset I'll never get my hands on that brute from over there." She nodded her head towards the now empty cell on the other side of her and offered Loki a weak smile.

After a while, a few soldiers came down to clear the place out. Despite Eris' pokes at them, they wouldn't break their silence about what happened. They held the same sadness from earlier, only increasing the uneasy feeling in Eris. She paced the cell, unable to sit with that feeling in her stomach.

**Loki**

Loki watched her with vague interest as she focused, though what exactly on he wasn't sure. Her motionless and lack of response was starting to become a little unnerving when she finally spoke. Immediately he knew she wasn't telling him the truth. Eris was a horrendous liar; everything from her body language to her tone screamed false and he wasn't buying it. Loki gave her a narrowed look, but she didn't seem much for further questioning or conversation. For the next few minutes, he stood facing a corner as he tried to think. He was impatient though and had just about decided on pestering Eris for answers when the faint echo of footsteps caught his attention.

Immediately, Loki went over to the front-facing wall, placing a hand against the golden barrier. He leaned forward to see several Einherjar descending the steps and into the hall through the still open doors, fully-armored and looking uncharacteristically somber. They said nothing to him as they began working to clear the scene.

"What is it?" No one said anything. He tried again. "What's going on?" Still, they ignored him and continued to move the fallen bodies and gather the various weapons scattered around the area. Even Eris was trying to get something out of them, but the soldiers never answered or even looked up to acknowledge either of their existences. "Are you all deaf?" Loki was already getting frustrated with the lack of response. "What happened?" He banged against the wall to get their attention, startling several Einherjar into dropping the weapons they were carrying. There a few who actually looked up and Loki instantly recognized the one closest to him.

"Varin!" The younger man jumped as Loki called his name, looking surprised and a bit shocked. This one had been a voracious swordsman back in the day and always seemed to be at the grounds, which, of course, meant that Thor had come in contact with him several times. Loki had never really spoken to Varin outside that one time when he was invited by Thor to tag along on a trip with Sif, Loki, and the others to the tavern after a day's work. Loki hadn't found him to be particularly interesting at the time, mostly because he was either pining after Thor's attention or getting too drunk to walk properly. Oh, how the times had changed.

Varin's stare held only the slightest hint of recognition, which gave Loki a fleeting sense of hope, but in the end, the Einherjar turned away and returned to help his fellow soldiers carry their burdens out and back up the stairs. "What was it?" Loki shouted after them as the last few filed out. "Something happened, I can tell—" The doors of the prison shut with a bang, cutting him off mid-sentence and leaving a hollow echo that went floating past into the darkness. Growling lowly, he shoved off the wall and went for the one between him and Eris.

"Eris!" Loki snapped, quickly closing the distance. "Tell me what happened. What did you see?"

**Eris**

The soldiers had flat out ignored them, even when Loki called one out by name. The younger man had just stared at them without response before turning away. Eris had given the young man a scoff of disapproval while Loki just yelled at them as they left. She sighed as he was cut off by the prison doors. Odin truly didn’t care about them left in the prison, did he? At least no enough to tell them what was going on, when there so obviously was. She leaned her forehead against the wall and closed her eyes, thinking about the sadness.

Her eyes opened when Loki snapped at her. Her face went quickly from surprise to irritation. “We really need to work on your attitude when you talk to me.” Eris gave him an annoyed expression before turning to walk in a slow circle. “And I don’t _see_ , that’s not how it works. I’m not a witch.” She was quiet for the rest of the circle before she stopped again in front of him. There was no point in keeping the secret.

“I felt sadness. A lot of sadness. I don’t know how many people, they’re too far away. I felt it on the soldiers too.” She quickly spoke more before he could. “It could be anything, really. I can never tell the source and people feel things all the time.” Eris wanted to keep a calm Loki. There was no need in freaking out before they really knew what was going on. All they could do was wait. She let out a sigh and ran a hand over her face. Thus began the waiting game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _stress_


End file.
